Cove Fort Furniture

COVE FORT FURNITURE

The furniture from the mid 1800's is all very utilitarian, but with a certain flair
and beauty all it's own. Some very fine craftsmanship is featured that given
the tools and finishes available at the time is quite phenomenal.

Just look at the magnificent styling of this old armoire. It would be easy to appreciate having this piece in your home even today. We were told that very few homes in this period had closets and I had always thought that might be due to the fact that no one cared to spend the time constructing them. But, our guide, told us that during this time there was some sort of extra property tax applied if you had a closet in your bedroom, so the obvious answer was to have an armoire for storing your clothing and linens. On the floor are more of the wonderful but practical rugs made on the loom Mrs. Hinkley owned. The shirt hanging on the armoire and the tophat perched on the coat rack are examples of clothing from this period. It's easy to understand that the armoire was probably more than enough storage for clothing since people from this period usually had only the one good outfit and then just a couple of suits of plain clothing for everyday. The oil lamp you see sitting on the matelpiece is an example of lighting appropriate to the period.

The bench you see pictured served double duty as a sitting area for the room or it could be pressed into service as another bed when the room was full. You can just barely see the tie rope string foundation for the mattress on the bed to the left of the scene. The chair is reminescent of those you might see in an old Western movie in a saloon. On the floor are more of the rag rugs which were handcrafted and grace every area of these living quarters. Notice the quality of the moldings that edge the floor and the raised panels in the doors which are also handcrafted.

The beautiful old chest reminds me of the Arts & Crafts era and Stickley furniture with it's clean rather simplistic lines. In fact quite a lot of this furniture, given it's utilitarian nature, has this quality. It also has a bit of the Federal look although it isn't quite as ornate. The picture hanging above the dresser is of the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City as it was pictured in a dream that Brigham Young had. He commissioned an artist to do the drawing from his memories of the dream some time before the actual temple was built. It is very close to what finally evolved as the temple. The house had indoor plumbing in the form of the chamber pot you see residing beneath the small washstand. The pitcher and bowl appeared in the other bedrooms as well to allow the residents to perform their personal hygiene chores. The box you see on the mantelpiece is called a hair safe. Whenever someone in the family cut their hair, it was saved in this box and then later woven into a wreath type decoration representative of samples of the family members hair.

This beautiful old desk was the home of the telgraph key that you see displayed on the top of the desk. The Cove Fort was the area's telegraph station and Pony Express Mailbox site. Just behind this desk is a bookcase type piece of furniture with pigeonholes that received mail for area residents. Notice the leather strips on the chair seat formed in a similar pattern to the way that caning is done. Also on a table in this room is an inkwell with a quill pen, which would have been the writing instrument of the day. The books laying on top of the desk are log ledgers of messages received.

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