Open today, 10am - 5pm. Free entry.

A Drawing Room in 1830

A mother and her daughters are gathered to relax, read and paint.

Date

Permanent

We are open Tuesday to Sunday (and Bank Holidays), 10am - 5pm.

Where

Museum of the Home

Room with blue decorative wallpaper, multiple paintings and a round mirror in gilt frames, a dark marble fireplace behind a round table atop sit books, a bell and a letter in the process of being written. There are dark wood chairs with blue cushioning, and decorative fire screens depicting pheasants.
Collections

About

By the 1830s, the drawing room was a female domain, used primarily by the women of the house for activities deemed appropriate, like reading or painting. There was also a growing interest in interior design, with a number of influential publications giving advice.

It is mid-afternoon and a mother and her daughters are gathered in the drawing room.

The mother is relaxing on the sofa, reading her monthly magazine and catching up on the latest fashions.

At the central table, her eldest daughter is practising her watercolours, while the younger daughter is writing a letter to her cousin who lives on the other side of London.

She has set up the chessmen on the games table at the back of the room, ready to challenge her brother to a game of chess when he comes home from school.

Objects to look out for

A hand holding up a smartphone displaying information and an image of a terraced house from 1978, with the actual display blurred in the background.

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