period interiors

[periodinteriors]

Eduard Hau, Interiors of the Winter Palace: The Bathroom of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1870, watercolor.

[periodinteriors]

Eastman Johnson, The Hatch Family [Pictured in the library of the family home at Park Ave and 37th St], 1870-71, oil on canvas.

[periodinteriors]

Leon R. Pescheret, The Great Tapestry Hall, Hampton Court Palace, 1935, etching.

[periodinteriors]

M. James Bowman (American), Rendering for Interior Design, c. 1880-1900, watercolor.

[periodinteriors]

View from the House of Henry Briscoe Thomas, Baltimore, c. 1841, unknown artist, pen and India ink, gouache, and sgraffito on paper.

[periodinteriors]

Martin Drolling (French, 1752-1817), La fille de l'artiste copiant un dessin (The Artist's Daughter copying a Drawing), oil, undated.

[periodinteriors]

The Family of John Q. Aymar [A Manhattan parlor on Greenwich Street], attributed to George W. Twibill Jr., c. 1833, oil on canvas.

[periodinteriors]

Georg Konrad Rothbart, The Veste Coburg: the Sitting Room of Martin Luther, c. 1841, watercolor.

[anachrosims]

just in case anyone forgot how wildly colorful Georgian interiors could be, even among the working class to the wealthy:

[anachrosims]

and EVEN WHEN things were more muted/neutral, the neutrality was OFFSET by ACCENT COLORS and HIGH CONTRAST between the wood tones and everything ELSE

ALSO AMERICAN COLONIAL INTERIORS POPPED OFF, Y'ALL (IN TERMS OF COLOR/COZINESS)

PEOPLE USED WHITEWASH AND COLORFUL TRIM OR EVEN JUST COLORFUL FURNITURE IF THEY COULD AFFORD TO DO SO

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON FRENCH AND BRITISH AND AMERICAN WALLPAPERS

"ELIZABETH" YOU CRY, "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO EXTRA THIS MORNING?! IT'S MONDAY"

Because, my friend, my war on GREIGE will NEVER end.

Historic interiors were filled with LIFE and LIGHT and COLOR. ALWAYS HAVE BEEN.

Part of the reason we don't see a lot of textile art is because, frankly, textiles tend to degrade over time - especially ones that had utility! And yes, pigments and weaving and dying all boosted the expense of things, when we were finally reliably block-printing fabrics and broad reams of paper, it was no longer just the wealthy who could afford pretty patterns!

In the Americas, a far wider variety of pigments also became available because of the abundance of... well, a shitton of flora and minerals, some of which weren't as common in Europe.

WHY THE HIGHLIGHTER COLORS? you ask.

CANDLES.

Those colors reflect candlelight and natural sunlight REALLY WELL.

Humans LOVE bright colors, it's NOT just a thing for kids. We live in a brilliant, vibrant, multifaceted world. We ALWAYS have.

(STOP MAKING YOUR HISTORIC SIMS 4 BUILDS BE BLAND. STOP IT.)

[periodinteriors]

On the subject of Colonial America: don't forget, even if you couldn't afford wallpaper, wall stenciling might still be in reach!

(If ever you have the opportunity to visit the Stencil House at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont (pictured above at 3, 4, and 5), I highly recommend.)

And that's before you get into American painted murals:

Embrace the decorative arts, folks!

[periodinteriors]

Sofia Vasilyevna Sukhovo-Kobylina (Russian, 1825-1867), The Study of the author Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin [brother of the artist] in Moscow, c. 1850s, oil.

[periodinteriors]

Gerhard Munthe (Norwegian, 1849-1929), Interiors from Leveld, the Living Room, the Entrance Hall, A Corner of the Dining Room, 1902, pencil, watercolor, and gouache.

[periodinteriors]

Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin, A Room in Alexander Basilewsky's Residence in Paris, 1870, watercolor.

[periodinteriors]

Aleksei Alekseevich Bobrov, Interior, c. 1873-1879, oil on canvas.

[periodinteriors]

James Roberts, Queen Victoria's Birthday Table, Osborne House, 1860, watercolor.

[periodinteriors]

Reblogging for Victoria's 207th birthday

[periodinteriors]

Charles Giraud (1819-1892), Eugene Giraud in his Studio with his Brother Charles and his son Victor, oil on canvas.

[periodinteriors]

Apartment of Empress Maria Theresa, Schönbrunn Palace, unknown artist of the Austrian school, undated.

[periodinteriors]

Biedermeier Style Room, unknown artist of the Austrian school, undated, watercolor.