Mantelpiece

The chimneypiece in this bedchamber dates to the 1812 completion of the Madison mansion, during which other fireboxes were enlarged and hearths fitted with marble slabs. Decorative plaster composition elements, emphasizing Enlightenment symbolism, were affixed to the mantel with a hide glue, creating the most elaborate composition design in the home. In the central panel, a goddess of plenty, seated in a chariot, holds a cornucopia. Flanking side friezes feature floral enrichments; truss ornaments are amphorae urns.

Bills to Montpelier carpenters Dinsmore and Neilson indicate the composition elements were purchased from Washington craftsman George Andrews, who also provided compo and wood fiber ornaments for Montpelier’s Drawing Room and the President’s House, Monticello, and John Tayloe’s Octagon House. Andrews advertised his shop sold “all kinds of Ornaments for Chimney pieces, Door Caps, Frontispieces, Metal Sashes, &c.”