Adams Papers Digital Edition

Papers of John Adams, volume 13

II. Marie Dumas’ Inventory of Household Furnishings

III. Marie Dumas’ Inventory of Household Furnishings
II. Marie Dumas’ Inventory of Household Furnishings: A Translation, 22 June 1784 Dumas, Marie II. Marie Dumas’ Inventory of Household Furnishings: A Translation, 22 June 1784 Dumas, Marie
II. Marie Dumas’ Inventory of Household Furnishings: A Translation
22 June 1784

Inventories of everything belonging to his Excellency Mr. Adams, esquire, as well as what I received from Amsterdam that I purchased per order of his Excellency Mr. Adams, and also items that I purchased that were absolutely necessary for his home. Several articles will not be found on Mr. Thaxter’s inventory, such as chairs, tables, carpets of all sorts, mirrors, beds, and several articles of useful furnishings necessary to run a household. Done by me, Marie Dumas, at The Hague, 22 June 1784.

Furniture in the anteroom 16 green damask chairs and their covers.
2 ditto armchairs and their covers.
1 new Turkish rug
2 gray toile curtains
2 gauze curtains with brass rods
Living room 1 large new Turkish rug
2 large pieces of the same added to the large carpet at the hearth
1 red damask settee and cushions
6 ditto armchairs with their down cushions.
6 ditto armchairs without cushions
4 damask curtains and their rods
8 tassels with their cords.
1 large gilded mirror.
1 large marble tabletop and marble base.
39
Dining room 2 Turkish carpets attached together
1 round gilded mirror
2 large gray toile curtains
2 gauze curtains with brass rods.
12 chairs with green upholstery
2 ditto armchairs.
Mr. Thaxter’s bedroom upstairs 1 large red floral English carpet
2 assembled mahogany camp beds
1 round gilded mirror.
1 brown oak table with two drawers
1 mahogany desk with three drawers
1 dressing mirror with three drawers and a key.
6 chairs with green upholstered seats and backs
1 brown thing with two drawers to hold water for washing with a hand towel.
1 yellow porcelain bowl
1st prepared bed 1 blue and white mattress
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 41.
1 canopy marked I.A. 33.
1 wool blanket with red and yellow embroidered corners
1 floral cotton quilt with a red background.
2nd prepared bed 1 blue and white mattress
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
1 sheet marked I.A. 41.
1 sheet marked I.A. 11.
1 canopy marked I.A. 33.
1 wool blanket with red and yellow embroidered corners
1 white floral cotton quilt with a red background.
1 iron grate
1 set of tongs.
Balcony room 1 assembled mahogany camp bed
1 blue and white mattress
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 11:
1 canopy marked I.A. 33.
40
1 wool blanket with red, black and green corners.
1 floral cotton quilt with a white and red background.
1 black leather chest with a drawer
Mr. J.Q. Adams’ bedroom 1 Turkish English red floral carpet
1 round gilded mirror
1 dressing mirror with three drawers
1 mahogany desk with 4 closed drawers
1 portrait of Mr. Washington with a gilded frame.1
1 small closed writing box
1 brown thing with two drawers and a yellow porcelain bowl and pitcher for washing and a hand towel
1 grate
1 broom.
1 set of tongs
1 brown oak table with two closed drawers with a closed writing desk on top with a green blotter
1 pewter writing case
6 chairs with red upholstery
3 closed chests
1 small-corded box where I keep my seal
1 round painted table
1 cabinet with a list of the books it contains of which I have a copy
1 cabinet with a list of its contents of which I have a copy
1 wardrobe with the list of its contents of which I have a copy
1 assembled mahogany bed
2 small straw mattresses
1 green and white mattress
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 41.
1 canopy marked I.A 33.
1 wool blanket marked in each corner with yellow, black and green.
1 blue and white floral cotton blanket with a red background.
1 yellow porcelain chamber pot
1 small silver candelabra that I returned to his Excellency Mr. Adams.
41
His Excellency Mr. Adams’ bedroom 3 Turkish carpets attached together.
3 mahogany desks each with three drawers
1 mahogany secretary with a locked drawer
1 marquetry secretary with a drawer.
1 mahogany cabinet with 3 drawers.
2 small mahogany tables each with one drawer
1 larger mahogany table with one drawer and a green table cloth.
1 large mirror in a gilded frame.
2 dressing mirrors each with 3 drawers
The portrait of his Excellency Mr. Adams in a gilded frame.2
The portrait of Mr. J.Q. Adams in a gilded frame3
The portrait of Mr. C: Adams in a gilded frame4
1 brown thing with two drawers, a yellow porcelain pitcher and a hand towel used for washing.
2 mahogany tables with 17 large boards and 12 small ones.
1 mahogany ladder that opens.
1 mahogany tea box with three copper boxes
1 mahogany tobacco box
1 mahogany box for razors
1 painted tin box
1 black leather box with nailhead trim.
6 green upholstered chairs with matching backs
1 thermometer
1 grate, 1 set of tongs, and a broom.
1 small white case
1 silver sword and a switch decorated in silver.
1 whip, and two hats.
1 assembled mahogany camp bed with four green damask curtains and the flap in the same fabric 10 tassels with the top adorned with fringe.
2 straw mattresses
1 green and white mattress
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 10
1 canopy marked I.A. 33.
1 wool blanket with corners embroidered in red and yellow
1 red floral cotton quilt with a white background
1 damask bed spread lined with taffeta.
42
2 gray toile curtains at the windows
1 yellow porcelain chamber pot.
All this Articles I have found so as they are cited here (was signed) F. Lotter.
In the storeroom 2 floral footed dessert dishes.
4 of the same without flowers.
2 bottles of gherkins
1 bottle of capers.
1 bottle of Moroccan liqueur
1 ditto of orange liqueur
2 lanterns for the front of the house
2 covers ditto, green and gold.
3 English carpets
1 small piece ditto
2 small pieces of Turkish carpets
2 iron foot warmers
1 iron stove
1 basket of pipes
2 green gauze curtains sewn together and with brass rod.
2 red table cloths for his Excellency’s bedroom
Vestibule 1 lantern painted green and gilded, with a board
1 mahogany leaf for the mahogany table.
1 pieces black carpet
On the stairs 3 english carpets
29 brass rods to attach them
58 brass fasteners for attaching to the step
In the pathway 2 green benches.
3 mats.
received these articles in good order.
Kitchen 1 soap dish
30 tin molds
1 large table with two drawers
1 tin plated cauldron for boiling water
1 round table with one drawer
1 tin plated cauldron for monsieur’s tea.
2 large white boxes
1 tray to chop vegetables
1 vegetable chopping board
1 large stove and its stand.
6 sieves
1 perse with three drawers
1 tin box painted with red and yellow flowers
43
1 gréve dish
1 syringe for the windows
1 pudding mold
6 rods to hang laundry
1 bellows.
2 lanterns for the servants
1 green barrel with iron bands
2 [spits?].
In the second storeroom 1 camp bed
1 chest with linens
Room adjoining the servants’ room 1 desk with a green blotter, writing case and bell
2 straw mattresses
1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 41.
1 canopy marked I.A. 8.
2 wool blankets marked in each corner
1 cotton blanket with a red background and white flowers
Servants’ bed 2 straw mattresses
1 featherbed
1 bolster
2 cushions
2 sheets marked I.A 41.
1 canopy marked I.A. 8.
2 wool blankets marked in each corner.
received the Same
Cook’s bed 1 featherbed
1 bolster
1 cushion
2 sheets marked I.A. 41
1 canopy marked I.A. 8.
2 wool blankets
received as Stands here mentioned (was signed) F. Lotter.

FC in an unknown hand (Adams Papers). For a description of this document see the descriptive note to John Thaxter’s inventories of 14 May and 16 Oct. 1782 (No. I, above).

1.

This portrait of George Washington has not been located or identified, but it may be a copy of John Trumbull’s 1780 portrait of Washington owned by Jean de Neufville and known as the “De Neufville Washington.” De Neufville apparently commissioned an otherwise unidentified artist named Giraúd to copy Trumbull’s work. For the Trumbull portrait, Giraúd’s copy, and the possibility that de Neufville gave the copy to JA, see Jean de Neufville’s letter of 7 Feb., note 1, and references there (vol. 12:231).

 44 2.

This portrait of JA has not been located or identified.

 3.

This is probably the pastel or crayon portrait done by Isaak Schmidt during the period between April and July 1783, following JQA’s return to the Netherlands from St. Petersburg. For a description of this portrait, which is now in the National Portrait Gallery, and a reproduction, see AFC , 5:xv–xvi, 215.

 4.

This portrait of CA was presumably done before his departure for America in mid-1781 but has been neither located nor identified. It is probably this portrait that JA refers to in his letter of 3 July 1782 to Jean de Neufville & Fils, below, where he inquires about reimbursing the de Neufville firm for the “Expence . . . of the Frame of my sons picture.”