South Square Room

From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Dimensions: 14' 10" x 15' 4"; ceiling 10' 0"

Order: Tuscan

Source: Palladio

Color: Currently, blue; recent investigations show multiple layers of paint.

Purpose of Room: Martha Jefferson Randolph's sitting room, where she sewed, taught her children, and directed the slaves who worked as household servants; the room also housed some of the overflow of Thomas Jefferson's books from his Library.

Unusual features: Rumford fireplace altered by Jefferson to burn -- in a more efficient manner -- wood instead of coal.

Furnishings of note: Tables and chairs for reading, writing, and sewing, including a sewing table made in the Monticello joinery and attributed to John Hemmings; today a portrait of Martha Jefferson Randolph, painted by James Westhall Ford, hangs over the fireplace. Silhouettes of family members and engravings hung on the walls.

Objects on Display in this Room

• Alexander von Humboldt (Silhouette)
• Ann Cary Randolph Bankhead (Sculpture)
• Book Boxes
• Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (Sculpture)
• Hore Browse Trist (Silhouette)
• Le Dejeune de Ferney (Engraving)
• Maria Cosway (Engraving)
• Martha Jefferson Randolph (Painting)
• Mary Randolph (Physionotrace)
• A Midsummer-Night's Dream (Engraving)
• Nicholas Philip Trist (Silhouette)
• The Taming of the Shrew (Engraving)