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Herman A. Elsberg, a textile Du Pont was a prodigious record-
designer, collector, and dealer, sold keeper. His detailed room inventories
antique silks as well as printed cottons indicate the specific textiles, rugs, and
and linens to du Pont. Amy furniture to be used for each season.
Pleadwell, from Boston, was an artist Most textiles were marked with sewn-
and teacher who went into the on labels that identified the months
antiques business. She traveled to the items were to be hung, and many
France at least once a year and sent also carried labels indicating the
quantities of fabrics to Winterthur on particular season (1 to 4), with Season
approval in the 1940s and 1950s, 1 being the months of January to
along with postcards and letters. March. Of course, with adjustments
Bertha King Benkard (Mrs. Harry in installations over the years—with
Horton Benkard), a talented family old textiles being taken apart and
friend, was consulted about reused—and with new labels being
furniture placement, paint colors, added to indicate the new arrange-
rugs, objects, textiles and curtains, ments in a room, deciphering which
and even represented du Pont when labels belonged to which time period
he was out of town. can be a bit of a puzzle. In addition to
written room inventories, during the
Ernest LoNano Interiors 1940s du Pont instructed Leslie P.
The artisans who were most closely Potts, assistant to the superintendent
involved with actually fabricating the The bedspread, acquired from Ginsburg & Levy, is believed to have of Winterthur Farms, to produce a
curtains at Winterthur were employed been owned by John Hancock, who is said to have inherited it from his series of watercolor room plans
by the firm of Ernest LoNano. The uncle Thomas Hancock. Recent research has shown that the main part detailing the placement of all
company was headed by three of the bedspread was originally a head cloth. Crewelwork valances furniture as well as decorative
members of the family with the same from another set of bedhangings were added to three sides to make elements such as rugs and lamps.
name. Du Pont initially contracted it large enough to serve as a spread. Although labor intensive and time
with the first Ernest LoNano consuming, the practice of seasonal
(1878‒1934), but it was the second Ernest (1901‒1958) who worked changes was important enough to du Pont that he noted his wish
on the Winterthur expansion and built the company into one of the for it to continue after his death, spelled out with instructions to
most influential interior design firms in America. The third LoNano his executors.
(1931‒2013) continued to successfully operate the business into the
late twentieth century. The Winterthur Rooms Today
Like the textile dealers mentioned above, the LoNano firm stocked By the 1960s it was clear to H. F. du Pont that large quantities of
large quantities of antique fabrics to sell to clients. Based in New York antique fabrics were no longer available and that many of his own
d City, the firm first became known through its association with the beloved textile furnishings had become faded, discolored, and
Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early 1910s. The firm’s damaged. The solution, of course, was to replace them with
involvement making curtains, bedhangings, and upholstery covers for reproductions. Although du Pont knew such a change was inevitable,
the enormous Winterthur house was their largest commission to date. he much preferred the muted shades of the antique and, when possible,
Between 1936 and 1950, du Pont’s daybooks record purchases from would add an older fringe, tassel, or other decorative element to the
the business totaling $54,182.11. newer acquisitions to soften the
These range from what was claimed appearance. As always, color was of
to be sixteenth-century green velvet paramount importance.
to cover an easy chair in du Pont’s After du Pont’s death, the
bedroom (at a cost of $525) to 70 curatorial staff at Winterthur
yards of antique brocatelle for the continued to make adjustments in
dining room (at $32 per yard) and the museum rooms. Some Board of
often included old linen sheets, Trustees members were concerned,
which were specially dyed for however, that du Pont’s aesthetic
curtain linings. LoNano also took would be lost. Their solution was to
delivery of fabrics purchased by du identify the most important rooms
Pont from other dealers and in the house and designate them
sometimes charged for cleaning, “frozen,” with any subsequent
restoration, and repairs. Additional changes to require Board approval.
invoices include those for the And so they remain today. Many of
installation of seasonal changes. In those rooms are featured in the
November 1931, the firm charged book, The Well-Dressed Window:
$2,168 “for setting the Winterthur Curtains at Winterthur by Sandy
The faux Venetian curtains in the Flock Room at Winterthur consist of a plain
Home for Fall.” woven silk with swags, pleats, and tails at the ends. The scalloped valances feature Brown. This article is based on the
a richly embroidered pattern in chenille yarn, edged with a woven tape and Introduction by Linda Eaton.
Seasonal Changes finished with silk fringe. The ensemble is a pastiche inspired by the patterns of
It was customary household Daniel Marot but fabricated with twentieth-century techniques. More than 60 years ago, collector
practice in H. F. du Pont’s day to Photography by Jim Schneck. Permission granted by Winterthur. and horticulturist Henry Francis du
change the look of a room with Pont (1880–1969) opened his child-
seasonal curtains and slipcovers. Room changes and reinstallations over hood home, Winterthur, to the public. Today, Winterthur (pronounced
the years were also dictated by du Pont’s prolific acquisition of new “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, with an
furniture and fabrics—which, of course, he wanted to highlight. The unparalleled collection of nearly 90,000 objects made or used in
importance of color and its use in the Winterthur garden played an America between about 1640 and 1860. The collection is displayed in the
essential part in the choice of the seasonal interior color schemes. magnificent 175-room house, much as it was when the du Pont family
The inside/outside connection was an important one for du Pont, and lived there, as well as in permanent and changing exhibition galleries.
textiles brought nature’s colors indoors. For more information visit winterthur.org.

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