Set of four Louis XVI armchairs with a square slightly arched padded back and seat upholstered in yellow silk embroidered with elaborate flowers and vines. The frame is centered by a cartouche issuing garlands of flowers and a stylized Greek key pattern. The squared arms end in rosettes and the front seat rail is carved with ribbon tied laurel leaves, fluted legs and foliate feet. Purchased by Doris Duke in 1960.
Revolving shell form seat on cabriole legs with hairy paw feet, commonly called a grotto stool.
A set of four chairs, each part ornately shaped and decoratively inlaid with foliage, urns, and flowers. Doris Duke bought these chairs in New York at auction in 1972 from the estate of Jessie Woolworth Donahue.
This dining table is an example of the type of architectural furnishings considered to be necessary in 18th-century dining spaces. It is an example of 18th-century modular design, as the table can separate into two consoles and a smaller center table. The plinths above each leg are decorated with four undulating vertical blocks or “book inlay,” a feature associated with the workshop of John Townsend. On the legs is a string of five bellflowers centering a spine of black inlay—characteristic of marquetry in Newport. Pasted on the center of one of the back rails of one of the consoles is a rectangular engraved label reading MADE BY / JOHN TOWNSEND, / NEWPORT. with the date 1796 written by hand.
This mother-of-pearl veneered desk and bookcase is one of the first pieces of furniture that Doris bought for Rough Point. She purchased it at auction in December 1957.
Like many other examples in that she purchased and displayed, this piece is a good example of cross-cultural exchange and how the trans-Atlantic trade system influenced design and taste.