Antique & Vintage Postcards

Bathed in the hushed elegance of a Low Country manor, this black-and-white photographic postcard captures the grand drawing room of Harrietta Plantation at McClellanville, South Carolina — a mansion hewn from age-proof black cypress in 1797 and open to limited seasonal inspection from November through May. A crystal chandelier cascades above two deep-cushioned floral sofas arranged symmetrically before a white marble fireplace, above which hangs a formal portrait of a woman in a dark frame flanked by candelabra. The room's proportions, dentil crown moldings, and period furnishings — a Pembroke card table, Queen Anne chairs, an elaborate Aubusson-style carpet — speak to the meticulous preservation efforts of the estate's stewards. The reverse credits photographer Frances (Benjamin Johnston), the pioneering documentary photographer who captured Southern architectural heritage for the Historic American Buildings Survey. Published by the Advertising Service Agency of Charleston, S.C., card no. 4817.