18th-century household linen management and its 21st-century historic house equivalent For the modern historic house museum collections staff, the care and cleaning of our spaces and objects are some of the most important tasks we do. Proper dusting and routine cleaning helps preserve historic objects, vacuuming floors and wiping down woodwork help to maintain our … Continue reading Making our mark…on the laundry
textiles
Washington House Blues
The summer of 2019 was an especially hot one here in Virginia, but we managed to add some cool crispness to the Washington house interior. It came in the form of some new textiles for the “best bed” in the Hall Back Room, in a refreshing blue and white color scheme. As we’ve previously discussed … Continue reading Washington House Blues
Finding Clues in Curtain Rings
What do you think curtains look like after hundreds of years in Virginia’s soils? Naturally, the cloth portions of such tasteful textiles quickly erode away. But archaeologists do occasionally discover curtain rings. It’s likely that brass rings such as these became separated from their stylish drapery due to cloth tearing or – occasionally - because … Continue reading Finding Clues in Curtain Rings
Lives & Legacies 