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White House, Corridor (Entrance Hall)

Photographer
Frances Benjamin Johnston
Date of Work
1892
Type
Photograph
Credit
Library of Congress
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White House, Corridor (Entrance Hall)

This circa 1892 black and white photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston depicts the Entrance Hall of the White House, including the Tiffany Screen. In 1882, Louis Comfort Tiffany created this glass screen to separate the Entrance Hall from the Cross Hall. The glass screen featured topaz, ruby, and amethyst jewels set into the glass alongside four eagles and a shield with the initials "US." The glass screen was removed and auctioned off during the Roosevelt renovation, and reinstalled in a Maryland hotel. The surviving glass was destroyed in a fire in 1923. Note the electric light bulbs along the bottom of chandelier. The ornate wall decorations were designed by upholsterer Edgar Yergason.