Embedded Files
My work extends to period-accurate recreations of long-dismantled historical details. While working on a 1790s Federal House in Hanover, MA, I discovered evidence of a corner cabinet. Through material investigation and historical research, I created a scale model of the probable appearance of the original cabinet.
The Story of the Hanover Corner Cabinet
The Story of the Hanover Corner Cabinet
To save a 1790’s house, I worked with a team to dismantle its frame and move it to a new site. When we took down the plaster walls and ceilings, I found two interesting attic floorboards...
The floor boards looking up from the second floor
Imagining the Original Parlor
Imagining the Original Parlor
On the boards, I noticed plaster burns, paint lines, nail holes, hinge marks, and wear. When I lined up the boards, the placement of the paint lines reflected a shadow of a fluted pilaster. Were these boards the face of the original parlor corner cabinet?
To confirm my hunch, I looked at books with architectural drawings of parlors from the late 1700s, all of which confirmed what I thought: during an 1850s renovation, the house's residents had reused material from the then-out of fashion Federal interior paneling to make attic flooring in a new wing of the house.
Creating a Model
Creating a Model
With the help of a few key visuals from my book research, the two boards supplied the rest of what I needed to know about the dimensions and color of the entire original cabinet.
To display my discovery, I made a full scale drawing of the cabinet, using one of the actual boards to represent the right side of the built-in.
I also built a scale model of the cabinet to show in the gallery at the North Bennet Street School.
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