The profile of the chair rail uncovered for the Drawing Room also had a large, flat section that appeared to be perfectly sized for an applied ornament.  Ornamenting a chair rail was fairly common in the Federal period and examples can be found at the Octagon House in Washington, DC, the Dumbarton House in Georgetown (Washington, DC) and other private residences found in Virginia.  Additionally, an example of a chair rail that was very close to the profile found in the Drawing Room was found in an architectural pattern book by William Pain.  Tellingly, the chair rail illustrated in Pain’s book also included a round ornament in the flat field.