The Smithsonian collection from Bernhardt Furniture is based not only on pieces owned by the popular museums in Washington, D.C., but also on the structures themselves. The pattern in the glass front of a china cabinet, for instance, is based on a window in the Castle, the original museum dating to 1855.

The sleek and surprisingly contemporary Campeachy leather chair and ottoman is based on an early 19th-century piece that Thomas Jefferson discovered in New Orleans. The Legacy sleigh bed was inspired by a pictured discovered in the Cooper-Hewitt library of the Smithsonian, which houses books on the decorative arts.

A wall mirror is modeled after the stylized sun in the Smithsonian logo, and the image appears on cabinet hardware.

Why a Smithsonian furniture line? “People feel like they have ownership because it is an American institution,” said Bernhardt’s LeAnna Graves. Most of the wood is walnut, she said, because it’s considered an American look.

A portion of sales proceeds will go to support educational programs of the Smithsonian Institution.

Bernhardt also partners with Martha Stewart to produce her furniture line.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 2:49 am and is filed under Antique Furniture, Furniture. Tags: America, Anna, Arts, Bernhardt, Century, China, Furniture, Martha Stewart, New Orleans, Oman, Smithsonian, Smithsonian Institution, Thomas Jefferson, Washington, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.