The material having been fourd hy John Rea of 

 Philadelphia, Latrobe had him make it up. His bill 

 records the following services under the date of October 



1, 180'): "■■ 



To making, lining, and trimming 5 Draw- 

 ing Room curtains & draperies at $40 

 Each 

 To 2 Sophas 



To making & stuffing 36 Chairs 

 " " " 5 Settees 



" " "12 Bolsters 



" " " 57 muslin cases in- 



cluding the muslin 



$200. 00 

 16. 00 

 72. 00 

 20. 00 

 24. 00 



45. 60 



It has been thought that the crimson \-cl\'ct cur- 

 tains were made by Mrs. Sweeney, a fashionable lady 

 who was the proprietress of the most elegant upholstery 

 shop in Washington, but the account with Rea in- 

 dicates clearly that the curtains he made and the 

 upholstery done by him were for the Oval Drawing 

 Room. Moreover, there is no account with Mrs. 

 Sweeney that can be identified with this room, 

 although she was doubtless doing work at the Execu- 

 tive Mansion at this time, as she was the source of 

 gossip concerning Latrobe's extravagances and Mrs. 

 Madison's disapproval of his absence from Wash- 

 ington. It is reported that when Latrobe heard the 

 gossip, in several anonymous letters, he wrote 

 immediately to Mrs. Madison concerning it. Mrs. 

 Madison's reply to Latrobe was reassuring on every 

 point. She called the gossip "a variety of falsehoods 

 framed but to play on his sensibilities" and assured 

 him that among other things "My affection for Mrs. 

 Latrobe would in itself prevent my doing injustice 

 to her husband," and added that she supposed Mrs. 

 Sweeney was offended at being left but little to do in 

 the house.'" Perhaps Mrs. Sweeney's chief grievance 

 had been the fact that she was not employed to do 

 the curtains for a drawing room which could hardly 

 fail to be much discussed in Washington. 



By fall the room began to assume its final 

 appearance. Unfortunately, the glass for the great 

 overmantel mirror, ordered from Jacob Mark in 

 New York, was broken in transit. It could not be 

 replaced, so two smaller mirrors had to be substituted 

 in the frame (see fig. 8). 



i« National Archives, record group 217, General Accounting 

 Office, Miscellaneous Treasury .Accounts, account 29.494, 

 voucher 1 1 . 



1; Hamlin, op. cit. (footnote 2), pp. 328-329. 



Figure 8. — Looking-glass frame designed by Ben- 

 jamin Latrobe for the Oval Drawing Room. 

 {P/wlo courtesy Library of Congress.) 



In November Latrobe was making inquiry of 

 Bradford and Inskecp of Philadelphia for 12 patent 

 lamps with spiral burners and double lights of a 

 handsome pattern for the President's drawing room. 

 He specified : 



I would prefer handsome bronze 10 brass and I think 

 either to cut glass unless the latter can be had of a very 

 handsome pattern at the above price. Lamps orna- 

 mented with drops and festoons of cut glass would soon 

 be demolished by clumsy and careless servants of this 

 part of the world and therefore I should wish that what- 

 ever is sent should be of a kind to bear handling." 



Latrobe papers, letter of November 21, no. 352. 



PAPER 49 : BENJAMIN LATROBE AND DOLLEY MADISON DECORATE THE WHITE HOUSE 



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