Secretary's Conference Room and
Diplomatic Reception Room
The Secretary's Conference and Diplomatic
Reception Rooms have been created through the
generous support of the Committee for the
Preservation of the Treasury Building. The
committee, recognizing the need of the
Secretary of the Treasury for conference and
reception rooms, assumed the leadership in
providing for historically accurate rooms to
reflect the dignity of the Treasury
Department, as well as the significant
history and collections of the landmark Main
Treasury Building.
Located adjacent to
the Secretary of the Treasury's office, the
rooms were created to provide space for the
Secretary's meetings and receptions in a
style harmonious with the other nineteenth
century historic interiors of the building.
The two rooms have been recreated as typical
nineteenth century public rooms in the
post-Civil War Treasury Building. Conceived
with the stated purpose of daily use, the
design of the conference and reception rooms
incorporates twentieth century functional
requirements with the style of nineteenth
century interiors. With access to the rooms
through a foyer, the plan of the rooms
disposes a conference room and a reception
room on either side of a modern kitchen.
The style of the interiors is American
Renaissance Revival of the late 1860's to
1880's, complementary to the period of the
Treasury collection of office furniture.
Throughout the conference and reception
rooms, all of the decorative details and
materials have been selected and assembled to
impart an accurate sense of an interior in a
major public building in the nineteenth
century. The walls and ceilings of both rooms
duplicate the color and decorative painting
schemes known to have existed in this wing of
the building. The rooms are lit by
Renaissance Revival gas chandeliers and
antique wall sconces of white metal and
brass. All five chandeliers, including the
one in the foyer, were purchased with funds
generously provided by the Treasury
Historical Association. The furniture in the
rooms is a combination of Treasury collection
pieces augmented by recent acquisitions.
Typical of the Department's existing
collection are the mahogany side chairs with
the US insignia in the configuration of the
sign for the dollar on the chair back in the
conference and reception rooms. The mahogany
and brown leather conference chairs are
replicas of a Treasury collection chair, and
the twenty-four foot long conference table
which comfortably seats twenty is also from
the Department's collection. Among recent
acquisitions are the two Renaissance revival
style parlor suites -- one decorated with an
eagle from the 1870's, and the other with
gilded shields and metal plaques from the
1860's. The furniture is upholstered in
typical mid-nineteenth century style striped
fabric.
In each room the elaborate nineteenth
century window drapery of lace, side curtains
and trimmings hangs from cornices which were
reproduced from designs of those originally
made for the Secretary of the Treasury's
office in 1864 and used in other high ranking
officials offices through the 1880's. The
plaster cornices painted to resemble walnut,
have the central motif of the
Treasury Department seal. The floors are
covered by wool Wilton and Brussels carpets
woven on looms as in the nineteenth century,
in strips 27" wide, and then sewn together.
The carpet patterns are based upon nineteenth
century designs and colors.
Most of the works of art in the rooms are
from the Treasury art collection. In the
conference room the portrait of George
Washington is attributed to Gilbert Stuart
(1755-1828) and the portrait of the 25th
Secretary of the Treasury, , is
attributed to Thomas Sully (1783-1872). The
framed series of vignettes, currency, bonds
and tax stamps, is an example of the
imaginative and unusual work of Treasury's
Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The
allegorical female marble bust of "America",
with her necklace inscribed with the names of
presidents of the United States, was made in
Italy for the American art market in the
1870's, perhaps for the Centennial of 1876 in
Philadelphia.
The Secretary's Conference and Reception
Rooms with their nineteenth century American
furniture and decorative details acknowledge
the Treasury Department's illustrious past,
while providing a historic setting for
today's Treasury business.
We appreciate the help of the Office of
the Curator in providing this
information.
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