The East Parlor
The East Parlor is the more formal of the two reception rooms in Van Cortlandt House. The elaborately carved rococo mantelpiece compared with the much simpler trim in other rooms suggests that this room
was a gathering place for entertaining and conducting important business. It was during James Van Cortlandt's occupancy that the carved mantelpiece was added. It was also during this period that the portrait of Augustus Van Cortlandt (1728-1823), painted by John Wesley Jarvis c. 1810, was commissioned by a family member.
The Parlor's pale wheat-colored paint is an exact restoration of the room's color c. 1800. Beneath the portrait of Augusts stands a mahogany low-boy, c.1770 that bears the label of William Savery, a prominent Philadelphia cabinet maker who worked in the Chippendale style. A recent addition to the East Parlor is the c. 1760 New York Chippendale-style five-legged card table given to the Museum by Mr. William H. Savage in loving memory of Carolyn Mackie Savage and Carolyn Van Cortlandt Martin.