The drawing room of the bourgeois home – a mirror of wealth

The drawing room of the bourgeois home – a mirror of wealth

The drawing room reflected the owner’s financial wealth. It housed the most beautiful and valuable decorative objects and furniture, which were, for example, purchased abroad or received as inheritance. Usually there were a couple of comfortable sofa sets, a musical instrument and plenty of large green plants, paintings and decorative objects in the drawing room. It was common for the daughters of the family to receive musical instruction in addition to introduction in dainty behaviour and French, often even abroad. In the old days, musical skills were a part of the general education of young ladies in particular. At any party, the daughter or daughters of the house would perform some carefully rehearsed songs for guests.  The gorgeous square piano in the drawing room was made in Saint Petersburg and given as a wedding gift in 1874 to a couple married in Vyborg.

Next to the massive door curtain, there is a rack for decorative items and other small items. There is a beautiful neoclassical ensemble on the top shelf of the rack: candlesticks and a pendulum clock with shapes and decorative motifs inspired by ancient architecture. The rack was usually loaded with all kinds of decorative objects, photo albums and large shells from across the seas. Next to the rack is a magnificent Venetian mirror. The mirror on the window wall was brought by a sea captain from his voyages. According to tradition, it was brought by ship from Copenhagen in 1880 or 1885.

The colourful Neo-Rococo sofa set was manufactured by customs inspector C.G. Wallenius from Raahe. In his spare time, Mr Wallenius made such sophisticated furniture for Raahe homes. Underneath the contemporary upholstery fabrics, a strip of the original upholstery fabric was found, on the basis of which the current upholstery fabric was designed and constructed at Lybecker Institute of Crafts and Design. The dark Neo-Renaissance sofa set from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is a real triumph of lathe work. The suite also includes a beautiful tile stove door cover embroidered on felt.