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The following paintings and prints of English interiors generally
correspond to James Logan's years in Pennsylvania (1699-1751). The
images suggest the types of gatherings and uses of furnishings and
objects that certainly also happened at Stenton. They provoke our
imaginations and help us to envision such scenes actually taking place
in the various rooms of the Logan mansion, which was after all a Colonial
British country house of the best sort.
(click on image for larger size)
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The Gough Family by William Verelst,
1741
Sir Henry Gough, a man of business, was a lawyer and Director
of the East India Company from 1735-1751. This paneled parlor
with "scrutoire," Queen Anne-style side chairs and
tea table could almost be the Parlour at Stenton. People of
both genders are using the space simultaneously. Charles Saumarez
Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design and the Domestic
Interior in England. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993,
plate 157, page 171.
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The Family of John Bacon by Arthur
Devis, c. 1742-43
Like Logan, Bacon cultivated an amateur interest in scientific
experiment. A transit quadrant for tracking the sun and stars
is on the tripod base near the window. A reflecting telescope
sits on the bracket table. In the back room are a library bookcase,
an air pump and a compass microscope, as well as a pair of globes.
The Bacons could again almost be the Logans: a mother and father
and their two sons and two daughters amuse themselves near an
arched opening flanked by pilasters, not unlike the entry hall
arch at Stenton. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century
Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 152, page 166.

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Design for a state bedchamber
by Daniel Marot, c. 1698
Like in the Yellow Lodging Room at Stenton, this room is about
display of costly textiles. While both rooms were for sleeping,
they were for entertaining, with a full set of chairs at the
perimeter of the room. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century
Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 6, page 22. See
also, Peter Thornton, Authentic Décor: The Domestic
Interior, 1620-1920. New York: Random House, 1984, plate
99, page 81.
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Mr. Woodbridge and Captain Holland by
William Hogarth, 1730
A servant brings a receipt interrupting a discussion of legal
matters between Woodbridge and his client, another such scene
that could have taken place, perhaps in the office at Stenton.
Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design
and the Domestic Interior in England. New York: Harry N.
Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 84, page 102.
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Sir Thomas Sebright, Sir John Bland and
two friends by Benjamin Ferrers, 1720
The four men sit on upholstered back stools at an oval table
covered in a white cloth smoking clay pipes. A servant has entered
through a narrow door with a pitcher of wine. Some of the men
have removed their wigs. One wig rests on the windowsill, a
second hangs over the top of a chair. One candle is lighted
for the entire party. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century
Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 64, page 86.
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Nicol Graham of Gartmore and two friends
in a library attributed to Gawen Hamilton, c. 1732
Three men sit and discuss books. Logan, Bartram and Franklin
may have done the same at Stenton, perhaps in Logan's Library
in the Blue Lodging Room. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century
Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 91, page 107.
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Thomas Smith and his family by
Robert West, 1733
A family gathers for tea in a paneled parlor. The fireplace
has a marble surround. A black servant, possibly a slave, who
appears to be a boy, waits by the hot water kettle. This image
suggests the sort of entertainment one might have experienced
in the Stenton Parlour. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century
Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England.
New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 90, page 107.
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The Strong Family by Charles
Philips, 1732
Tea is served in an elegantly appointed room that includes
window curtains and a pair of "Sconce glasses," two
items included on the 1752 inventory of the Yellow Lodging Room
at Stenton. Here again a servant boy attends to the hot water
pot. This room is fitted with damask patterned wallpaper or
textile panels and trimmed with gilt braid. Whether there was
such decoration at Stenton is a question to address in further
research. Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration:
Design and the Domestic Interior in England. New York: Harry
N. Abrams, Inc., 1993, plate 89, page 106.
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