American Artifacts of Personal Adornment, 1680-1820: A Guide to Identification and Interpretation

160 Pages·2005·0.67 MB·English

by  Carolyn L. White

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR
STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

White, Carolyn L., 1969–
American artifacts of personal adornment, 1680-1820 : a guide to identification and
interpretation / Carolyn L. White.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
9780759114654
1. Dress accessories—United States—History. I. Title.
NK4712.W48 2005
391.4’4’0903075—dc22
2005002703

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Table of Contents
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY BOOK
SERIES
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER 1 - Introduction
CHAPTER 2 - Sources for Interpreting Artifacts of Personal Adornment
CHAPTER 3 - Clothing Fasteners
CHAPTER 4 - Jewelry
CHAPTER 5 - Hair Accessories
CHAPTER 6 - Miscellaneous Accessories
References
Index
About the Author
Acknowledgments
I NEVER INTENDED TO WRITE THIS BOOK. WHEN I INITIATED my
dissertation research, an examination of personal adornment from Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, I naively imagined myself comparing the artifact assemblages to published
comparative examples from both archaeological and museological contexts. I quickly
realized that this picture was pure fancy. In order to accurately identify and interpret the
artifacts of personal adornment as I intended, I would have to trace multitudinous
research paths. In following the serpentine lines of research for each individual artifact
category and pulling them together as one major component of my dissertation, I
realized I had created the beginnings of the practical resource I imagined was already
out there.
Many people have given me generous support and encouragement throughout the
process that culminates in the publication of this book. I am most indebted to my
adviser and friend, Mary C. Beaudry, whose scholarship first inspired my original
decision to pursue historical archaeology and then drew me to Boston University. Once
at BU, Mary’s support, advice, and high standards fueled my interest in three topics that
underlie this volume: material culture, domestic sites, and gender. My intense interest in
personal adornment was launched in Mary’s artifacts seminar, which prompted me to
take notice of the gap in the archaeological literature on personal adornment; my
seminar project on combs formed the basis of the combs section here. As first reader on
my dissertation committee, Mary’s advice and suggestions on what were essentially the
first few drafts of this book shaped both the form and content immeasurably.
I would like to thank my dissertation committee, ably chaired by Julie Hanson, for
their support and assistance. As second reader, Clemency C. Coggins’s intensive
reading and tough questions improved the dissertation and guided the revisions I
undertook to make the dissertation into a book. Linda Welters provided information and
guidance about costume history and thoughtfully steered me toward those resources that
are used by costume historians and away from those that aren’t. Ricardo Elia provided
much encouragement, not only as a member of my dissertation committee but also as a
colleague at the Journal of Field Archaeology and a mentor in the classroom. Richard
Candee’s knowledge of all things Portsmouth saved me from several foolish errors and
pointed me to many helpful resources.
I owe many debts of gratitude for the funding I received during the course of
developing this project. I thank the Department of Archaeology and the Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences at Boston University for providing me with a Graduate
Student Scholarship and several years of Teaching Fellowships and Continuing Student
Fee awards. Three years of funding from the Journal of Field Archaeology, first as a
demi-Fellow, then as a Journal Fellow, and finally as Interim Managing Editor,
provided support while I developed the ideas for my dissertation and embarked on the
research. I especially thank Christine Bedore, Trina Arpin, Marni Blake, Rick Elia,
Curtis Runnels, and Al Wesolowsky for their collegiality during this time. I am grateful
for the continuing support of the Department of Archaeology in my role as research
fellow.
The time that I spent as a McNeil Dissertation Fellow in the Advanced Studies Office
at Winterthur Museum made this book possible, and I am indebted to the staff of the
museum and library for their individual and institutional roles in making my time so
fruitful. I thank the staff of the library and Advanced Studies Office, particularly
Gretchen Buggeln for her collegiality and for making all of the fellows feel welcome;
Bert Denker for much-needed assistance with photographic resources; Pat Elliot for
taking care of everything; Gary Kulik for suggesting research directions that proved
useful; Neville Thompson for her incredible knowledge of the incredible resources;
Jeanne Solensky for her good humor and great help fetching item after item in the
Downs Collection and fulfilling the ensuing image requests; and Margaret Welch for
her aid, enthusiasm, and great hospitality. I thank Dot Wiggins and Susan Newton for
their assistance in procuring images for this publication. I am also grateful to my fellow
Fellows in residence at Foulsham House—Tom Denenberg, Eunyoung Cho, Scott
Casper, Liz Seigel, Anna Andrzejewski, and Matt Hale—for providing excellent
camaraderie and making the experience both intellectually stimulating and pleasant.
Margaret Ponsonby remains a true friend.
I am grateful for the support from Strawbery Banke Museum that took so many
shapes. Martha E. Pinello created a supportive and enjoyable environment for
productive archaeological work; I am thankful for the space, access, and assistance she
established for this project on both a personal and institutional level. Sandra DeChard
provided fellowship and help during many research trips to Portsmouth. I thank Jessica
Desany and Rebecca Hatch McKernan for their friendship and affability during our
shared time in Portsmouth and in the ensuing years. I thank Carolyn Roy for her
willingness to track down certain artifacts whenever I needed them. I extend my
gratitude to Mary Dupré, Carl Crossman, John Maier, Kathy Mullins, Tony Booth, Bob
Barth, Sally Stradzins, Phyllis Crosby, and Howard Crosby for their assistance,
encouragement, and good humor. I am grateful for the research conducted by other
archaeologists at the Portsmouth sites: Aileen B. Agnew, Helen Chase, Bruce
Follansbee, Gray Graffam, Faith Harrington, Scott LaPointe, Rick Morris, Steven
Pendery, and Kathleen Wheeler.
I have been the beneficiary of assistance from a host of helpful archivists and
librarians at many different locations. I’d like to thank the staffs at the New Hampshire
Historical Society, Concord, New Hampshire, and David Molen in particular;
Portsmouth Athenaeum, Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Massachusetts Historical
Society, Boston, Massachusetts; Society for the Preservation of New England
Antiquities, Boston, Massachusetts; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.;
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts; High Museum of Art, Atlanta,
Georgia; The Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California;
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Mugar Memorial Library, Boston,
Massachusetts; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, New York;
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York; Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford,
Connecticut; Old Salem, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Massachusetts; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts; Litchfield
Historical Society, Litchfield, Connecticut; Museum of the City of New York, New
York, New York; Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia.
I owe thanks to Paula Richter, who provided me with an internship at the Peabody-
Essex Museum early in my graduate career during which I became interested in
costume history. I appreciate the help, patience, and advice on photographing small
artifacts provided by Michael Hamilton.
I have also benefited in countless ways from the trusted friendship of Michele Clark,
Emily Craig, David Craig, Jeremy Crean, Gillian Epstein, Jessica Goldberg, Dan Goldy,
Ziyad Hopkins, Peter Kalb, Laura Lee, Ann-Eliza Lewis, Akin Ogundirun, Tim
Scarlett, Joanna Pi-Sunyer, and David Seidenberg. I am grateful to Shannon Plank for
her role as colleague and friend, beginning from day one of our graduate careers.
I am lucky to have such assuring and wonderful parents, Rosie and Bill White, and I
thank them for their interest in the book and their enthusiasm in the appropriate places
along the way. Thanks also to my sister, Kate White, who has been a steady friend,
asking about the book’s progress and listening to my responses. I am also grateful to my
in-laws, Rich and Ronnie Seidenberg, for their help and encouragement.
The buoying support of Steven Seidenberg made the creation and completion of this
book possible, and I thank him for his continuous encouragement, the contagious nature
of his own discipline, his cogent criticism, and his willingness to take care of household
duties as well as annoying formatting issues.
Finally, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the editorial staff at AltaMira Press for their
kind assistance and guidance. I am grateful to Diana Loren and four anonymous
reviewers; their comments and reactions prompted me to reconsider several aspects of
the manuscript, in particular the theoretical and pictorial coverage of the volume. Susan
Walters carefully guided this book through the review process, Mitch Allen took on the
project later with remarkable efficiency and prowess, and Kristina C. Razmara saw it to
completion.