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The East Room of the White House circa 1910. So, where'd we put that feather duster? Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative, 8x10 inches. View full size.
The plaster ceiling detail looks somewhat like a swastika, which was not an uncommon design in times past.
[It's called a Greek Key. - Dave]
This was after the sympathetic McKim, Mead & White remodelling and redecoration of 1902. It still looks essentially the same today. It's a beautiful room.
Like the rest of the White House interiors, the East Room was frequently redecorated to match the taste of the times. The Lincoln East Room featured wallpaper, patterned carpeting and a Renaissance Revival style ceiling:
Later administrations frequently altered the decor and even the structure of the room. Andrew Johnson's ceiling was in the Rococo Revival Style, and Ulysses Grant's had massive gilded plaster beams. A detailed gallery of images documenting the various decors can be found here.
That must have been extremely difficult to reconstruct when the White House was gutted and rebuilt during the Truman administration. Beautiful detail!
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