Kitchen at Merino Hill

Periodca. 1890

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions7.2 × 11.4 in. (18.3 × 29 cm)

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineMuseum Purchase with Funds from Edward N. King, Jr., 2012

Object number2012.14.3

DescriptionWatercolor view of the interior of an early kitchen that features exposed framing overhead, a large cooking fireplace with an oven to its left, and a large brick hearth. A partially open divided door appears on the right, and a steep staircase leading to the second floor on the left. Strip carpeting covers much of the floor. Furnishings include a sawbuck table, a red-painted dough box, and a four-legged table. A female figure with her back to the artist stands in front of a long dry sink, above which hangs a variety of kitchen implements. There is also a built-in shelving unit to the left of the sink. A large black pot hangs on a crane over a fire in the fireplace.
NotesThis view of the old kitchen at Merino Hill in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, was executed about 1890 by a cousin of the Wright family. It is one of three works by the same artist, the other two depicting the main house (accession number 2012.14.5) and the barn complex from the rear (accession number 2012.14.4). The main residence at Merino Hill was built between 1809 and 1811 by Samuel G. Wright (1781 - 1845), a successful Philadelphia merchant who made this large estate his summer home. The imposing three-story main brick residence erected by Wright incorporated an older 18th century wood-framed structure as its kitchen, the interior of which is shown here. The woman standing at the dry sink is Martha Nixon, an African-American domestic who worked over the years for a number of families in the Upper Freehold area. A surprising number of the items shown in the watercolor remained in place until 2012, when most of the contents of Merino Hill were sold in two auctions, one at Freeman's in Philadelphia and another on site. Among those furnishings that survived until then were the sawbuck table, the red-painted dough box, the dry sink, and the strip carpeting on the floor. The old kitchen became a shed in the early twentieth century when a more modern facility was created elsewhere in the main house.

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