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Parlour
Used daily by the family, the Parlour was less formal than the Drawing Room and con-
tained a mixture of furniture, older pieces combined with the most up-to-date.
Today, the Parlour is furnished by the Colonial Dames of America, Chapter One. The
period chosen reflects occupancy from 1790, when the house was completed, until 1829,
the time of Charles Carnan Ridgely's death. The first paint colors for the Parlour were
white, followed by pale green and then yellowish pink in the early 1800s. The doors and
chairrail were grain-painted as they are in the Dining Room. The walls were painted
until late in the 19th century when they were wallpapered.
None of the furniture in this room is of Ridgely provenance and only two decorative
items belonged to the family: an early 19th century Chinese export punch bowl which
was "redecorated" in the later 19th century, and the orange and gilt tea set made in Paris.
Captain Charles Ridgely the Builder and his wife were married in 1760 during the height
of Georgian fashion. Among the furnishings here are pieces of early and late Georgian
style, also known as Queen Anne and Chippendale. These pieces are representative of
those which an affluent family might have purchased from England or the New England
states, or that they might have inherited.
The Irish mahogany gaming table and the American walnut tea table are the earliest
pieces exhibited in this room, dating to 1740-1760. The easy chair, covered in bargello
worked by the members of the Colonial Dames, and the magnificent mahogany and gilt
looking glasses, date to the later Georgian period.
The cabriole sofa, made in Baltimore c.1800, is inlaid with bell flowers and upholstered
in a striped fabric as illustrated in George Hepplewhite's English design book published
in 1794. The fabric for the sidechairs and window drapery is this same striped silk.
The mahogany tall case clock with London works was made in Baltimore c.1800 as
were the mahogany heart back sidechairs and armchair. The square piano forte, c.1830,
is labelled "Joseph Hiskey, Baltimore." The mahogany case is heavily embellished with
painted decoration, and a handcolored engraving of a landscape scene is applied above
the keyboard. Joseph Hiskey was the foremost maker of pianos in Baltimore at this period,
and this piano forte is one of the many outstanding examples of his work.
The silver repousse urn was made in Baltimore in the second quarter of the 19th cen-
tury by Andrew Ellicott Warner, one of the initiators of the Baltimore repousse style. Its
decoration is similar to several repousse tea sets owned by the Ridgely family.
The portraits in the Parlour are not typical of those found in an American home dur-
ing the Federal period. However, they are important examples of British portraiture. The
small 18th century portrait over the mantel is an anonymous young English gentleman;
the portrait on the north wall is of Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), Queen of Charles
II, attributed to Sir Peter Lely (1616-80); and on the south wall is a portrait, also said
to have been painted by Lely, of Queen Mary II (1662-94), co-sovereign with William HI.
Dining Room
The Dining Room has been carefully researched to refurnish it in the span of Ridgely
occupancy, c.1815-1829. The paint colors are those from the second period of decora-
tion of this room, c.1815, and the mahogany graining on the doors faithfully reproduces
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