Rideau Hall

The Pauline Vanier Room

The Craft of the Furniture Maker

Traditional handmade furniture is an important part of Canada's heritage. The armoire from Québec was built in the latter half of the 1700s. Its unusually ornate decoration reflects the Louis XV style popular in France at the time. Made of pine boards, it has been stripped to its original, dark blue-green paint. Paints of this period were often made from locally available ingredients, using milk as a base and natural dyes from plants for colouring.

Traditional and modern styles mesh in the Windsor rocking chair of maple wood with a woven seat of sea grass. The chair was made in New Brunswick and presented to the Hnatyshyns during an official visit to the province in 1990.

[Return To the Pauline Vanier Room | To the Large Drawing Room]