Belle Farm board with archway design drawing

Date1770-1780

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Gloucester, Belle Farm

MediumHeart pine; Ink

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/4 x 7/8 x 31 3/8in. (33.7 x 2.2 x 79.7cm)

Object numberAF-VA22560.1.1

DescriptionThis wood board has an incised and inked drawing of the design for archways in the Belle Farm House. Additionally there is a sectional drawing of the Doric style pedestal found in the house. It was most likely used as a type of presentation drawing, to illustrate for the client how the features would look in some detail.

Label TextWhen this board was discovered in Belle Farm, a late-18th century house in Gloucester County Virginia, it was being used as a shelf. The etchings in the wood surface provide valuable information on design development and layout in the last quarter of the 18th century. This etching is among the earliest surviving in Virginia. The design was the basis for two 18th-century arches still seen in the house today and was used by the Restoration architects as the model for the arches seen in the southwest dining room of the King's Arms Tavern.ProvenanceBelle Farm House, Gloucester County, Virginia