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Galleries / Home & Garden

Defining Charleston Style - Craft

Photography Susan SullyPhotos 5Issue July 2022
The hand-carved wood moldings of the Miles Brewton House, completed in 1769, represent a pinnacle of Charleston craftsmanship. Several carvers, most trained in England, executed the designs which, though composed of elements published in 18th-century style guides, were creatively interpreted and combined.The door dividing the vestibule of the Nathaniel Russell House from the inner sanctum of family life and entertaining features an exquisitely crafted screen of carved wood and bentwood and antique glass.Walls made of bricks handmade by enslaved Africans form an essential and handsome aspect of Charleston’s building craft tradition.In houses of the Georgian era, mantels like this one at Drayton Hall afforded opportunities to further embellish rooms with expertly designed and crafted wood carving.A hand-carved cornice of triglyphs and flowers ornaments the paneled walls of Drayton Hall’s great hall. The plaster medallion, the third rendition to grace a ceiling that suffered damage over time, reprises the cornice’s pattern of flowers.

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Defining Charleston Style: Peek inside noted author Susan Sully’s latest tome, The Allure of Charleston: Houses, Rooms, and Gardens
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