Nightstand

Retailer George P. Gore Co. (American (Chicago, IL), 1898)

Date1860s

MediumWalnut, marble, brass

ClassificationsFurniture

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. George L. Seaton. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number76.38.4

Status

Not on view

Collections

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The walnut and burl wood bedroom set in the Farm House’s collection is in the dramatic Renaissance Revival style popular from 1850 to 1890. This style of furnishing employs eclectic motifs such as ﬂowers, fruit, cartouches, medallions, contoured panels, urns, scrolls, busts, and animal heads, as well as architectural elements such as pediments, columns, and balusters. The Renaissance Revival styles of the 1860s and 1870s marked the ﬁrst period in which ﬁne designs were used for mass-produced furniture. This set, consisting of a bed frame, side table, and dresser, was sold by George P. Gore Co. of Chicago in the 1860s and purchased by Hon. Sylvester “S.S.” Mann (1826−1885) of Elgin, Illinois. Mann was an early dealer in and breeder of Holstein cattle and a member of the Illinois State Legislature. The Second Empire style house at 117 Tennyson Court in Elgin was sold to Mann after the Civil War and this set of furniture would have enhanced one of the several bedrooms in the home.