By Jeannette Holland Austin
The floor was frequently protected by carpets, some of which were of stout leather, some of stuffs highly figured and colored. However, the term "carpet" in the old documents sometimes applied to table coverings. Tablecloths were manufactured of cotton, oznaburg, dowlas, holland and damask. The furniture in the dining-room of Robert Beverley, Sr. of Middlesex County, one of the wealthiest men in the Colony, consisted of an oval and a folding table, a small table and leather couch, two chests, a chest of drawers and fifteen Russian leather chairs. The hall or dining room was sometimes called the "great room" and was furnished with several varieties of tables, the most common of which were the short and long framed, with benches. In addition there were the folding, the falling, the Spanish, the Dutch oval and the sideboard table. Some pieces were made with black walnut and cedar. The inventory of the average planter in Virginia during the 17th century revealed a variety of household articles among the different apartments of a dwelling. The home of Thomas Osborne of Henrico County left a personalty calculated to be worth 125 pounds sterling. There was furniture, tableware, bed and table linen and the utensils in the kitchen and dairy. The room designed as the best contained a feather-bed, bolster, pair of pillows, curtains and valance, a blanket and a worsted rug. There were also two chests with locks and keys, a framed table, one small sideboard table, one chest of drawers, six high and six low leather chairs, a small old-fashioned looking glass, pair of andirons with brass bosses, pair of bellows and a small leather trunk. A very important commodity in the Virginia Colony was the use of plank board. Some plantations were in possession of a great abundance of plank. John Smyth of York lft 1500 feet; John Andrews of Accomac, 1800 feet. Henry Jenkins, of Elizabeth City was indebted to Pascho Curle for 4,029 feet of plank. Sources: Records of York County, vol. 1694-1697, p. 410, Records of Accomac County, vol. 1666-1670, p. 23; Records of Henrico County, Vol. 1688-97, page 350; Records of York County, vol. 1675-1685, page 146; Records of York County, vol. 1694-1697, p. 410, Records of Accomac County, vol. 1666-1670, p. 23.
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