Category Archives: This and That

This and That

Oval Drawing Room, Revisited 2023

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The symmetry and bling of the historic Nathaniel Russell House is on full display in the oval drawing room.

Oval Drawing Room Ceiling and Chandelier
Oval Drawing Room Ceiling and Chandelier

I am fascinated by these tri-column mirror panels. Rather like a fun-house mirror, just shifting your position an inch or two changes the scene. Here, triplicates of a music stand with varying amounts of a standing harp next to it.

Oval Drawing Room Rounded Mirrors
Oval Drawing Room Rounded Mirrors

Despite the wealth and import business that would have allowed the Russells to have mahogany doors, the hallway doors are faux. The skill and expense of applying the design to a pine door was valued over real mahogany.

Oval Drawing Room Rounded Mirrors
Oval Drawing Room Rounded Mirrors, Open door that leads to hallway

Nathaniel Russell House Museum, Charleston, SC
January 27, 2023

This home has been restored to its 1808 appearance and is part of the Historic Charleston Foundation collection.

Additional posts of the Nathaniel Russell House Museum

Building, This and That

Leonards Mills: Shingle Mill, 2 of 2

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Continued from Leonards Mills: Shingle Mill, 1 of 2

Once he has the shingle in his hand the mill worker cuts one edge off…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

…flips the shingle over…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

…cuts the second edge off…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

then flips the shingle into a pile.

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

Meanwhile the next shingle is ready…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

Just to the left you can see a building sided with cedar shingles from this demonstration mill.

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

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I was fortunate that during my September visit the Maine Forest and Logging Museum was having Living History Days.

The Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley has a variety of exhibits intended “to preserve, celebrate and educate people about the sustainable forest culture of Maine.”

http://www.maineforestandloggingmuseum.org

October 1, 2022

Building, This and That

Leonards Mills: Shingle Mill, 1 of 2

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Wooden shingles have long been used in New England due to the abundance of wood and its durability. Ingenuity and mechanical innovations led to commercial production equipment like this Shingle Mill on display at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum.

A short length of cedar is fixed into a mechanism that carries the wood to the saw.

Shingle Mill
Shingle Mill

The mill worker takes each shingle…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

… in a well practiced movement…

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

…lifts the shingle away from the saw blade.

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

A wider view:

Cedar Shingle Mill
Cedar Shingle Mill

This mill has an amazing number of moving parts.

Built By Hackett & Witham, Skowhegan ME
Built By Hackett & Witham, Skowhegan ME

I was fortunate that during my September visit the Maine Forest and Logging Museum was having Living History Days.

The Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley has a variety of exhibits intended “to preserve, celebrate and educate people about the sustainable forest culture of Maine.”

http://www.maineforestandloggingmuseum.org

October 1, 2022

This and That

Tea Set Bling

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Another room of the Nathaniel Russell House Museum that is a show off, including this gold decorated tea set.

White - Gold Tea Set
White – Gold Tea Set

The Nathaniel Russell House Museum embodies the flaunt-it lifestyle of the mercantile elite of late 1700s – early 1800s Charleston, SC. The house has been restored to its 1808 appearance and is part of the Historic Charleston Foundation collection.

Photos taken October 13, 2021