Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993                   TAG: 9311080230
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HOME'S FURNITURE SHOWS WASHINGTON'S EYE FOR DECORATING

He was even partial to faux finishing. One wonders what he would have thought of the licensing agreement that now permits Hickory Chair to make dozens of pieces of furniture based on those at Washington's estate on the Potomac.

Such a licensing agreement, the first for furniture ever agreed to by Mount Vernon, authorizes the company to produce 35 American, French and English pieces including upholstery.

"Washington did have a good eye," says Bill Merrill, director of design for Hickory Chair, of Hickory, N.C. "He had a great love and interest in that house. It was done by George, it wasn't done by Martha. Although I expect she was footing the bill."

The Washingtons' bill in 1797, according to Mount Vernon records, came to $402.20 for two John Aitken sideboards and 24 side chairs. Hickory Chair's adaptation of that sideboard lists for $4,650. A chair is $900.

Williamsburg, the Winterthur museum in Delaware and Historic Charleston all have participated in successful furniture-licensing programs.

But the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which has managed Washington's estate for 135 years, has resisted commercial undertakings until now. They recognized that the almost 1 million visitors who tour the mansion each year might want to bring it into their living rooms. Part of the proceeds from the furniture sales will go to conserve Mount Vernon.

"Mount Vernon being such an old institution, we are very cautious about anything commercial," says Neil W. Horstman, Mount Vernon's resident director. "But it was time. We realized that though Washington may be very well recognized, his personality and interests aren't and there is a reawakening and interest in his tastes in domestic life."

According to Mount Vernon records, Washington described his taste in furniture as "neat and fashionable."

Brunschwig & Fils also has created three Mount Vernon textile designs as part of the new licensing program: a toile design based on images from Washington's life, a woven fabric based on the design of his bookplate, and a cotton print from the dress Martha Washington wore at her wedding in 1759.

The fabrics have been used to upholster pieces in the furniture collection and will be added early next year to Brunschwig & Fils' own line.

In turning out its 20th-century versions, Hickory Chair found it had to make some revisions to suit contemporary tastes. According to Beverly Addington, Mount Vernon's director of licensing, the company added a little more padding to the chairs and upholstery.

Beds were given headboards where none existed. And a large formal dining table, a key element of any 18th-century reproduction furniture collection today, had to be adapted from a mahogany chair. Documentary evidence indicates the Washingtons did not keep a permanent table in the dining room. Instead, when guests were expected, they would put up some sawhorses and boards and cover them with tablecloths.

Says Addington, "Hickory Chair didn't think that would sell too well."