Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Furniture as Social History: Gender, Property, and Memory in the Decorative Arts

Figure 1

Elizabeth Paddy Wensley, artist unknown, 1670–1680. Oil on canvas. 41 1/2" x 33 1/4". (Courtesy, Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Mass.)

Figure 2

Chest attributed to the shop of Thomas Dennis (w. 1659–d.1706), Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1676. Red and white oak. H. 31 11/16", W. 49 5/8", D. 2 25/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

Figure 3 High chest attributed to Eliphalet Chapin, East Windsor, Connecticut, 1771–1795. Cherry with white pine. H. 87", W. 39 1/2", D. 18". (Courtesy, Wadsworth Atheneum, Wallace Nutting Collection. Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange and The Evelyn Bonar Storrs Trust Fund.)

Figure 4

John Singleton Copley, Dorothy Wendell Skinner, Boston, 1772. Oil on canvas. 39 3/4" x 30 1/2". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; bequest of Mrs. Martin Brimmer, acc. 06.2428) ©2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved.

Figure 5

Portrait of a Gentleman (possibly Elisha Hutchinson, formerly identified as Sir George Downing), attributed to Thomas Smith, Boston, ca. 1675–1690. Oil on canvas. 43 1/2" x 35 7/8". (Courtesy, Harvard University Portrait Collection, Gift of Mr. Robert Winthrop, Class of 1926, to Harvard College, 1946. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College.)

Figure 6

John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere, 1768. Oil on canvas. 35 1/8 " x 28 1/2". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Joseph W., William B., and Edward H.R. Revere, acc. 30.781) ©2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved.

Figure 7

John Singleton Copley, Thomas Hollis, 1765-1766. Oil on canvas. 94" x 58". (Courtesy, Harvard University Portrait Collection, Commissioned by the Harvard Corporation, 1765; ©2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College.)

Figure 8

The Old Maid, London, 1777. Engraving on paper. 10 3/16" x 8 3/16". (Courtesy, Library of Congress.)

Figure 9

Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, London, 1773. Engraving on paper. 6 1/2" x 4 3/8". (Courtesy, New York Public Library.)

Figure 10

John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Ezekiel Goldthwait, 1771. Oil on canvas. 50 1/8" x 40 1/8". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of John T. Bowen in memory of Eliza M. Bowen, acc. 41.84) ©2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved.

Figure 11

John Singleton Copley, Ezekiel Goldthwait, 1771. Oil on canvas. 50 1/8" x 40". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; bequest of John T. Bowen in memory of Eliza M. Bowen, acc. 41.85) ©2000 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All rights reserved.

Figure 12

High chest possibly decorated by Charles Gillam, Saybrook or Guilford, Connecticut, 1703–1725. Pine, tulip poplar, and ash. H. 54 5/8", W. 40 1/8", D. 21 1/8". (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

Figure 13

Seventeenth-century couple from “a scarce print by Marshall” in Joseph Strutt, A complete view of the dress and habits of the people of England, 1799. (Special Collections, Dimond Library, University of New Hampshire.)

Figure 14

John Singleton Copley, Thomas Hancock, 1764–1766. Oil on canvas. 95 1/2" x 59 1/2". (Courtesy, Harvard University Portrait Collection, Gift of John Hancock, nephew of Thomas Hancock, to Harvard College, 1766; ©2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College.)
 

Figure 15

John Singleton Copley, Daniel Rogers [?], 1767. Oil on canvas. 50" x 40 1/2". (Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Dr. Morrill Wyman.)

Figure 16

Cupboard, inscribed “Hannah Barnard,” Hadley, Massachusetts area, ca. 1715. Oak and yellow pine. H. 61 1/8", W. 50", D. 21 1/4". (From the collection of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village; photo Amanda Merullo.)

Figure 17

Chest with drawers, initialed “SH,” Hadley, Massachusetts area, ca. 1710. Oak with white pine. H. 45 1/4". W. 44 1/2", D. 18 1/2". (Courtesy, Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, Massachusetts.)

Figure 18

Embroidered bed hangings, England, 1680–1720. Wool on fustian (linen warp, cotton weft). (Courtesy, Wadsworth Atheneum. William B. and Mary Arabella Goodwin Collection. Bequest of William B. Goodwin.)

Figure 19

Chest with drawers, initialed “MS,” Hadley, Massachusetts area, ca. 1715. (Courtesy, Wadsworth Atheneum.)

Figure 20

Sampler by Mary Holingworth, Salem, Massachusetts, ca. 1665. Silk on linen. 24 3/4" x 7 1/2". (Courtesy, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. Bequest of George Rea Curwen, 1900, 4234.39.)

Figure 21

Sampler by Abigail Pinniger, Rhode Island, 1730. Silk on linen. 16" x 9 3/4". (Courtesy, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, gift of Miss Susan B. Thurston, 14.60.)

Figure 22

Diagram on pages 324-325 of pie crust vents from The Accomplish'd Lady's Delight by Hannah Wolley, 1675. Reference (shelfmark) Douce P 412. (Courtesy, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.)

Figure 23

Settee, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1800–1810. Mahogany and birch with maple and white pine. H. 34 3/4", W. 84 1/8", D. 16 1/4" (seat). (Courtesy, Winterthur Museum.)

Figure 24

High chest of drawers, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1733. Walnut and maple and walnut veneers with white pine. H. 86 1/4", W. 40 1/2", D. 22 1/4". (Courtesy, Warner House Association, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thaxter Swan; photo, David Bohl.)

Figure 25

Provenance of the high chest illustrated in fig. 24: Mendum–Sherburne–Warner–Penhallow connections.

Figure 26

Detail of the initials and date on the inlaid heart of the chest illustrated in fig. 24. (Photo, Brock Jobe.)

Figure 27

Detail of the inlay on the upper drawer of the high chest illustrated in fig. 24. (Photo, David Bohl.)

Figure 28

Detail of compass star inlaid on the case sides of the chest illustrated in fig. 24. (Photo, David Bohl.)

Figure 29

Prudence Punderson, “First, Second, and Last Scenes of Mortality.” (Courtesy, The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut)