Hidden Treasure discovered at Maymont House Museum
After more than eighty years, Maymont is still revealing hidden treasures for the public to enjoy.
During conservation of the Maymont House Museum's unusual swan furniture in February, a locksmith was called to open a long-sealed dresser. Inside, astonished staff found a twenty-two piece silver and ivory vanity set wrapped in Richmond newspapers dating from 1928.
The vanity set was part of the extraordinary silver and narwhal tusk dressing table – created by Tiffany and Company – which has been on display since Maymont opened to the public in 1926.
Photographs taken in 1926 showed several items of the set atop the dressing table. However, by 1975, when Maymont Foundation took responsibility for the 100-acre estate, all accessories had disappeared. Only the early images and empty fittings on the dressing table bore witness to the missing items. It was thought that they would never be seen again.
While years of ongoing restoration and conservation exposed the mansion and its 1,000-object collection to intense scrutiny, the Tiffany and Company vanity set remained safely hidden in plain view.
The dressing table, chair and vanity set represent the ultimate expression of Tiffany's Viking revival pattern, inspired by the excavation of ancient burial ships in Norway at the turn of the 20th century. The one-of-a-kind accessories, featuring small silver walrus faces, were designed in 1903 and purchased by the Dooleys in 1905 after the opening of Tiffany's Fifth Avenue showroom.
The set includes tweezers, small and large nail files, button hook, cuticle knife and pusher, comb, brush, nail buffer and scissors, perfume bottle, four candlestick holder inserts, four table-top oval well inserts with walrus-face ornaments and blue silk faille lining, and two matching boxes.
A cylindrical cake of beeswax was also found. Believed still missing from the set are an additional perfume bottle, small pair of scissors, and a small cylindrical item.
In mid-May, the vanity set will be exhibited with its matching dressing table and chair in the Swan Room, following conservation funded by the Maymont Council.
For more information, contact Dale Wheary , director of Historical Collections & Programs, at 804-358-7166, ext. 331.
The preceding was compiled from a Maymont Foundation news release.
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