|
_____ __________39_____________________
photographs alternately show a room-sized floral carpet with strips of straw matting on
top, or a Turkey carpet similar to the one in present use.
On the east wall, the circular convex girandole mirrors with candle arms date to the
early 19th century. These mirrors were highly decorative as well as functional, reflecting
both objects and light in perspective. Although they may have been used originally in
the Great Hall, Drawing Room, or Dining Room, late 19th century photographs show
the mirrors in their present location.
The later Rococo Revival mirror with stag's head crest which hangs on the south wall
is a smaller contemporary example of a much larger one which originally hung in this space
Other than firelight and the natural light available during the day through the windows,
lighting during the 19th century was expensive and time consuming. Although the Ridgelys
owned a variety of oil and fluid lamps, candles were the primary means of lighting at
Hampton until about 1850, especially in ceiling fixtures and wall sconces.
Because the Ridgelys were very wealthy, however, they were able to afford the latest
in lighting innovations. In the mid-19th century, John and Eliza had a gashouse con-
structed at Hampton with pipes installed to conduct the gas into the house. The Music
Room's porcelain and gilt chandelier with the Chinese export vase center, made in France
in the second quarter of the 19th century, was adapted for gas lighting as were each of
the other candle-holding ceiling fixtures in the Mansion.
Gas light, in addition to oil lamps and candles, continued to be used until 1929, when
electricity was finally installed. However, according to family tradition, the Ridgelys uti-
lized oil lamps or chamber candlesticks for going up to bed at night until they left Hampton
in 1948. These candlesticks and lamps were kept on a table in the first story stairhall,
and a servant spent every morning collecting the used equipment for cleaning, trimming
the wicks and changing the fluid.
The pair of girandole lights with hanging cut-glass prisms on either side of the mantel-
piece in the Music Room were also originally illuminated by gas, but have been wired
for electricity since 1929.
The porcelain mantel clock and vases are French, 19th century. The two pairs of large
porcelain vases, also 19th century, are Chinese export. The vases are purely decorative,
often used by the family for flowers or cut greens.
Portraits in this room are of family members and include a fascinating rendition by John
Carlin of four grandsons of John and Eliza Ridgely fishing in a pond, c.1860. The pond
was located where Goucher College is today, with Hampton Mansion looming in the back-
ground. The figures include John Ridgely (later fifth master of Hampton), Charles Ridgely,
Henry White and Julian White. It is interesting to many of today's children that John
Ridgely is the only boy wearing long pants. The other younger boys are still in dresses.
Over the mantel is a copy of Thomas Sully's three-quarter length portrait of Charles
Caman Ridgely, painted in 1820. The original is presently in the collection of the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Important small portraits of the Ridgelys were also displayed in the Music Room where
you see them today. Exhibited as a group are four watercolors on ivory of John and Eliza
Ridgely, their daughter Eliza, and Mrs. Martin Eichelberger, the grandmother of Eliza,
Sr., all painted by George Lethbridge Saunders (1807-1863). Another watercolor on paper
of Charles Ridgely, John and Eliza's son, hangs nearby. This small portrait was also ex-
ecuted by Saunders, an English painter travelling in America, c.1843.
|
