Vermeil Room (White House) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Vermeil Room is located on the ground floor of the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, the official residence

Official residence

An official residence is the residence at which heads of state, heads of government, gubernatorial or other senior figures officially reside...

of the President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

. The room houses a collection of silver-gilt

Silver-gilt

Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gilt; for example most sporting trophies, medals , and many crown jewels...

or vermeil

Vermeil

Vermeil is a combination of sterling silver, gold, and other precious metals, commonly used as a component in jewelry. A typical example is sterling silver coated with 14 carat gold. To be considered vermeil, the gold must be at least 10 carat and be at least 2.5 micrometres thick...

tableware, a 1956 bequest to the White House by Margaret Thompson Biddle. Portraits of American First Ladies

First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

hang in the room.

McKim creates the Social Room for Theodore Roosevelt

The Vermeil Room was originally a staff work room used for storage and later for the tasks of polishing silver. Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 renovation of the White House by architect Charles Follen McKim

Charles Follen McKim

Charles Follen McKim FAIA was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partnership McKim, Mead, and White....

reconfigured the use of the house, finishing much of the ground floor for public use. When first furnished for public use the room was termed the Social Room, because it served as a lounge adjacent to a women's rest room. McKim provided the room with late Georgian style cove moldings and panelled wainscot. On the west wall McKim installed a Colonial Revival mantel with paired Tuscan Doric columns and bas-relief medallions with American eagles similar to the one found in the Seal of the President of the United States

Seal of the President of the United States

The Seal of the President of the United States is used to mark correspondence from the U.S. president to the United States Congress, and is also used as a symbol of the presidency. The central design, based on the Great Seal of the United States, is the official coat of arms of the U.S...

, the mantel was flanked by a pair of built-in arched cupboards.

Truman reconstruction

The Truman reconstruction of the White House in 1952 replaced the 1815 pine beams installed during the reconstruction of the house after its burning by the British in 1814. President Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

had the ancient beams sawn and installed as paneling in the Vermeil Room, China Room, and Library

Library (White House)

The White House Library is located on the Ground Floor of the White House, the official home of the President of the United States. The room is approximately 27 by 23 feet and is located in the northwest of the ground floor. The Library is used for teas and meetings by the President and First Lady...

. The style of wall paneling and bracketed molding installed during the Truman reconstruction were based on a Georgian

Georgian era

The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...

period model, contemporary with the design of the White House exterior. They were originally left unpainted, showing their grain and knots, a look popular in the 1950s.

Margaret Thompson Biddle's bequest

Margaret Thompson Biddle's collection was significant and ranges from Renaissance to 19th century French and English pieces. The collection includes work by English Regency silversmith Paul Storr

Paul Storr

Paul Storr was an English silversmith, sculptor, and designer working in the Neoclassical style during the late eighteenth and early nineteentch centuries...

(1771–1844) and French Empire silversmiths Pierre-Philippe Thomire

Pierre-Philippe Thomire

Pierre-Philippe Thomire a French sculptor, was the most prominent bronzier, or producer of ornamental patinated and gilt-bronze objects and furniture mounts of the First French Empire...

(1751–1843), and Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot

Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot

Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot was a French silversmith working in a neoclassical style.-Business:Maison Odiot, in English "House of Odiot", was established in 1690, during the reign of Louis XV by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard Odiot, considered a fine silversmith.Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte gave Jean-Baptiste...

(1763–1850). First Lady Mamie Eisenhower

Mamie Eisenhower

Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower was the wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.-Early life:...

had the collection displayed in the room's glass enclosed vitrines

Display case

A display case is a cabinet with one or often more transparent glass sides and/or top, used to display objects for viewing, for example in an exhibition, museum, house, in retail, or a restaurant. Often labels are included with the displayed objects, providing information...

.

Biddle was the daughter of William Boyce Thompson

William Boyce Thompson

William Boyce Thompson, , was an American mining engineer, financier, promoter of Western support for the revolutionary Alexander Kerensky and Bolshevik governments of Russia, philanthropist, and founder of Newmont Mining....

and the wife of A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr..

Kennedy use and redecoration

At first only displayed in the Vermeil Room in a museum like setting, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on recommendation of her friend Rachel Lambert Mellon

Rachel Lambert Mellon

Rachel "Bunny" Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon is an American horticulturalist, gardener, philanthropist, fine arts collector, member of the International Best Dressed List, and widow of philanthropist, art collector, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder, and banking heir Paul Mellon.-Background:Known...

began using the collection for the display of flowers and fruit in the rooms on the state floor.
During the Kennedy White House restoration, interior designer Stéphane Boudin

Stéphane Boudin

Stéphane Boudin was a French interior designer and a president of Maison Jansen, the influential Paris-based interior decorating firm.Boudin is best known for being asked by U.S...

proposed painting the room in a style used in 17th and 18th century England and Normandy. Boudin had used a similar treatment in the Blue Bedroom at Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle, southeast of Maidstone, Kent, England, dates back to 1119, though a Saxon fort stood on the same site from the 9th century. The castle is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds....

in Kent, England. Rather than attempting to putty and polish the rough sawn timbers he chose to highlight the porous texture of the paneling. The walls were first rubbed down with wire brushes to bring up the grain and create an "aged" surface. Next a solid coat of off-white paint was applied, and that was followed by a "dragged" coating of blue paint. This was sealed using a bar of wax dabbed in pure dry blue pigment, and finally the surface was lightly distressed to tiny specks of white in the underlying base coat.

The interior of the shelves displaying the vermeil were covered in white velvet. One of two neoclassical caryatid mantels was installed (still in place). White damask drapes were made with blue and off-white fringe

Fringe (trim)

Fringe is an ornamental textile trim applied to an edge of an item, such as drapery, a flag, epaulettes, or decorative tassel.Fringe originates in the ends of the warp, projecting beyond the woven fabric...

trim. A finely patterned blue and white carpet was installed, and a large center table was created with a custom dyed blue velvet cloth not delivered until the Johnson years. A gilded chandelier, making reference to the vermeil collection was installed. The result was a gallery room, not a sitting room. The 1964 White House guide, the White House, shows an architectural cross-section with Boudin's blue Vermeil Room.

Nixon redecoration

In 1971 First Lady Pat Nixon

Pat Nixon

Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon was the wife of Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974. She was commonly known as Patricia or Pat Nixon.Born in Nevada, Pat Ryan grew up in Los Angeles, California...

, working with White House Curator Clement Conger, refurbished the Vermeil Room adopting a Federal style for the room's decoration. The Georgian cornices were replaced with later period cornices. Several of the vitrines

Display case

were closed up, and the paneling was given many coats of putty to transform it to a smooth finish. The room was painted a soft green and drapery was designed by Edward Vason Jones

Edward Vason Jones

Edward Vason Jones , a neoclassical architect and member of the Georgia School of Classicism, began his career in 1936 with the design and construction of the Gillionville Plantation near his hometown of Albany, Georgia...

in gold, green, and blue with complex swags trimmed in bobbin tassel

Tassel

A tassel is a finishing feature in fabric decoration. It is a universal ornament that is seen in varying versions in many cultures around the globe.-Etymology:...

s. A late 19th century English crystal chandelier was installed and the room was furnished with two Federal style sofas, and an Empire pier table between the windows on the south wall.

George H.W. Bush redecoration

In 1991 during the George H.W. Bush administration the room was repainted a soft yellow, the pier table was replaced with an empire style sofa and the two federal style sofas replaced by a pair of lolling chairs. The striped gold and blue drapery was replaced with striped silk damask in blue and cream.

George W. Bush redecoration

In 2006 the White House curator Bill Allman, First Lady Laura Bush

Laura Bush

Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...

, Bush family decorator Ken Blasingame and the Committee for the Preservation of the White House

Committee for the Preservation of the White House

The Committee for the Preservation of the White House is an advisory committee charged with the preservation of the White House, the official home and principal workplace of the President of the United States...

refurbished the room. Walls were painted in an enamel gloss finish in an ivory color with a tint of green described as Deauville. An 1829 center table in the late neoclassical style by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Anthony Gabriel Quervelle was placed in the room. The lolling chairs were reupholstered in patterned white silk damask, the c. 1815 sofa on the south wall is attributed to Duncan Phyfe

Duncan Phyfe

Duncan Phyfe was one of nineteenth-century America’s leading furniture makers.Born Duncan Fife near Loch Fannich, Scotland, he emigrated to Albany, New York, at age 16 and served as a cabinetmaker’s apprentice...

and upholstered in a pink silk lampas

Lampas

Lampas is a type of luxury fabric with a background weft typically in taffeta with supplementary wefts laid on top and forming a design, sometimes also with a "brocading weft". Lampas is typically woven in silk, and often has gold and silver thread enrichment.-History:Lampas weaves were developed...

. On each side of the sofa stand Boston work tables produced in the early 19th century likely to be the work of cabinetmakers John Seymour

John Seymour

John Seymour may refer to:* Sir John Seymour , father of Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII of England* John Seymour , Wiltshire and Somerset landowner, grandfather of Queen Jane Seymour* John F...

or Thomas Seymour. Though an unmatched pair, each has drawers and a fabric sewing-bag. Windows were given new drapery – straight panels of patterned silk jacquard in olive and gold topped by a single festooned swag

Swag

In Australia and New Zealand, a swag is a bundle of belongings rolled in a traditional fashion to be carried by a foot traveller in the bush. Before motor transport was common, foot travel over long distances was essential to agriculture in the Australian bush....

and side jabot

Jabot

Jabot may be:* Jabot Cosmetics, fictional company depicted in the soap Young and the Restless.* Jabot, Jabot knot for tying an Ascot tie* Jabot Airport, an airport on Jabat Island in the Marshall Islands* Jabat Island, an island in the Marshall Islands...

s of the same patterned silk, trimmed in tassel