Manufactured by
Unidentified
Owned by
Sinclair, Clayton, American
Subject of
Margeson Brothers Furniture Store, American
Owned by
Sinclair, Hazel, American
Subject of
Rock Rest Tourist Home, American, 1948 - 1976
Date
mid 20th century
Medium
stain on wood with foam , wicker , steel , paint and paper (fiber product)
Dimensions
H x W x D: 18 1/4 × 30 3/4 × 15 5/8 in. (46.4 × 78.1 × 39.7 cm)
Description
A wooden bench with seat cushion from the Rock Rest Tourist Home. The mahogany, rectangular, wooden bench, features a rectangular padded cushion. The bench has brown cane webbing over the seat, four carved legs, and an I-shaped support bar attached to the legs. The legs are squared at the top and taper inwards towards the bottom. There are carved square shapes at the top of each leg, just below the skirt. The bench has a small skirt that attaches to all four chair legs. Underneath the seat are three supporting metal bands: two that extend diagonally from corner to corner, and one that extends from front to back. The corners of the bench are held together underneath with triangular wedges that have been screwed to the body of the chair. The text [M066] has been stamped along one edge of the bench. Adhered to another part of the bench underside is a partially torn, blue and white label adhered to the bottom of the bench has white printed text that reads [[MARGESON BROS.?] [SPECIALISTS IN?] / HOME[?] FURNISHINGS / PORTSMOUTH N.H] in the blue section at the top and blank fillable lines for [No.], [Finish], [Lot], and [Style] in the white section below and filled in with black handwritten text that reads [1990], [Wal & [---?]], [47991], and [B[---?]] respectively. The rectangular cushion sits flush to the surface of the bench and is secured with fabric loops around the legs at three of the four corners. The cushion fabric is a repeating red and cream checkerboard pattern. Inside each red and white square is a repeating, woven, concentric diamonds pattern with red dots at each corner of the squares.
Place collected
Kittery, York County, Maine, United States, North and Central America
Place purchased
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
The Rock Rest Tourist Home Collection
Classification
Furnishings, Housewares, and Décor
Type
benches
cushions
Topic
Black Enterprise
Black interiors
Business
Recreation
Segregation
Travel
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc.
Object number
2011.12.22
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright RestrictionsNo Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd52b91b2b6-cc4d-4f02-b9c3-2161931b3630

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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