Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/178

 heads. There were shovels and tongs of iron, and doubtless, in many cases, of brass. In some of the houses, the backs of the chimneys were of the former metal. A large chafing-dish was used at times for heating the chamber. The floor was frequently protected by carpets, some of which were of stout leather, some of stuffs highly figured and colored. There were printed linens for the windows and printed cottons for the chimneys. In some of the houses, the walls of the chambers were hung with tapestry. There were screens, escritoires, and clocks of various and often of costly patterns.

The respective value of the various articles in the numerous chambers did not differ in a very striking degree. In this respect, the appraisements of the contents of the rooms in the residence of Thomas Stratton of Henrico, a planter whose estate was fairly representative, was probably not exceptional; the furniture in one chamber above stairs was set down as worth thirty-two pounds sterling; in another, thirty-seven; that in the principal apartment on the ground floor, thirty-nine.