The First Floor > The Drawing Room
An Overview of The Drawing Room
A plaque on the door of to the Drawing Room from the stairs reads:The restoration of the Drawing Room was made possible by a grant in 1983 from the Heritage of London Trust.
In this room an attempt has been made to reconstruct Dickens's own milieu during his residence at 48 Doughty Street. The period focused upon is September 1839, the month in which Nicholas Nickleby was completed. The years 1837 to 1839 fell in the transitional period of interior design. Late Regency and William IV styles prevail, but some of the new fashions of Victoria's reign are allowed to intrude.
Starting from the highest point in the room, the ceiling has been lined and distempered, using only such materials as were available in the 1830's. The distemper has been tinted with a faint pink blush, successor to the "Adam colour-wash" of the late eighteenth, early nineteenth centuries. Around the border of the ceiling is the cornice, the definition of which, prior to the reconstruction, was blunted by layers of whitewash, like that of cornices elsewhere in the house. However, every detail of this one has been carefully picked out with dental probes to restore it to pristine condition. It has also been painted to match the woodwork, a custom of the 1830's. The gilt moulding adjacent to the cornice restores a feature of the room in Dickens's time.
The three windows, which are centered and spaced evenly in the wall opposite from the viewing area, are dressed with red curtains, and hung on all four of the walls are eight engravings. Centered in the wall to the right is the fireplace, above which is placed a large mirror, and there is a companion mirror centered and hanging on the wall to the left. Below the mirror on the wall to the left is a piano and stool. A candelabra rests on the far-side of the piano from the viewing area. Just farther from that end of the piano, and directly in front of the far-left window, is an étagère. Directly in front of the other two windows are three cane-bottomed chairs. In the far-right corner of the room from the viewing area is a chiffonier. Just-closer to the viewing area from this a firesreen is displayed.
In the center of the room is a sofa table, oriented so that the ends face the left and right walls, and upon it are a flower arrangement and a few monthly installments of Nicholas Nickleby, the final installment of which was printed in the month represented as mentioned above. Situated to be facing the left end of the sofa table is a green armchair, and at the opposite end of the table is a plum-coloured arm chair. To this chair's right, just farther from the chair with respect to the viewing area, is a table with various crafting implements. Upon this table is a tapestry. On the near side of the sofa table there is nothing besides the barrier to keep visitors in the viewing area, but on the far side of the sofa table is a green sofa, which has matching upholstery to the green armchair previously mentioned. Beneath all of these things, going from wall to wall, is the carpet, which is mainly black and green with floral designs.
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