Lithophane: Narrative Encased in Porcelain

The lithophane lamp in the Music Room is a hidden gem of tours at the Gibson House. In fact, while opening up the museum for the day and turning on all the lights in the house, I make it a point to leave this particular lamp off. This, of course, can sometimes lead to visitors being puzzled as to why I have gathered them in one corner of the Music Room to look at a small, seemingly simple lamp. However, the theatrics of pulling the metal chain with a dramatic flourish and waiting for the visitors to express their surprise continues to be one of my favorite parts of giving tours.

A Study in Contrasts: Renaissance Revival and Aesthetic Design under One Roof

Part of why the Gibson House Museum serves as such an integral part of Boston’s historical landscape is its ability to capture, under one roof, the shifts in decorative and sociopolitical trends in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Upon visiting the museum, you will likely notice a distinct change in decorative moods depending on which room you are in. The entrance hall, for example, is primarily decorated in the 1860s Renaissance Revival style that would have been popular in Gibson matriarch Catherine Hammond Gibson’s time. The console table and matching mirror to your left as you walk into the museum are both carved in ebonized black walnut, which would have been an expensive and highly desirable material. Placed in the first room the Gibsons’ guests would see, this Renaissance Revival furniture would have showcased the family’s knowledge of, and appreciation for, an older, revered age of artistic innovation and achievement.