Back Parlor

The back parlor was the less formal parlor in the Mansion and would have been used on a daily basis by the McHenry family.

The oriental influences can be seen especially in this room. The wallpaper which was reproduced by Carter and Company shows this particularly in the frieze. Blossoms and fans as well as the birds on the ceiling were all popular motifs of this design trend. The chandelier features Japanese Satsuma pottery inserts on each arm as well as the center post. The carpet is another Woodward Grovesnor reproduction based on an 1880s pattern.

The walnut, Louis XV style parlor set is from an early Modesto pioneer family, the Elihu Beard family. This particular style had been popular at an earlier time and so it is appropriate that this set would be in the parlor that was used less formally and more frequently.

The rosewood, Chickering square grand piano is also in the Louis XV style and it is said that it came around the horn of South America. The painting above the piano is by Alexander M. Wood, a nineteenth century California artist.

The silver-plated trophy on the parlor cabinet was never engraved but it would have been awarded for merit in agriculture. The figure on the top is of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture. This would be an example of what Robert McHenry could have won at the Stanislaus County Fair for his winter wheat. The parlor cabinet is a highly decorative piece of furniture in the Renaissance Revival Style, Its sole purpose was to look grand and glorious and provide a surface for the display of decorative objects.

The back parlor also provides a wonderful perspective on nineteenth century color coordination. The rule of thumb was that the color on the floor in one room becomes the color on the wall in the next room. So, in this case, the front parlor has a gold-colored carpet and the back parlor has gold-colored wallpaper. The terra cotta color of the back parlor carpet is on the walls in the adjoining library. Multiple colored walls and carpets do work together.