2.20.2007

beyond the lincoln logs

to honor one of my favorite presidents, abraham lincoln, i'd like to show some of the interior design and architecture prevalent when he was in office.
nineteenth-century american architecture and furniture design was characterized by a multitude of different styles that took inspiration from design vocabularies of the past. in reaction to rapid urbanization, the spread of manufacturing, the massive influx of poor immigrants, and the civil war, wealthy members of american society embraced romanticism, which urged a reexamination of the "simple" ways of the past in order to find happiness in the more complicated present. there were many revival styles generated by this philosophy, such as greek revival, gothic revival, egyptian revival, rococo revival, and renaissance revival. some of these revival styles were only found in furniture design, while others were used for a house's exterior and interior design as well.

source: "american revival styles, 1840–1876", in metropolitan museum of art


(sideboard, 1857)


(side chair, 1870)

(cabinet, 1877)


(slipper chair, 1860)


(cabinet, 1866)

(arm chair, 1853)

(abraham lincoln's home)

(sitting area in lincon's home)


(bedroom in lincoln's home)


(wallpaper in lincoln's home)

No comments: