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Kitty Calash

~ Confessions of a Known Bonnet-Wearer

Kitty Calash

Tag Archives: Rhode Island history

I Fall to Pieces: Extant Garment Fragments

03 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by kittycalash in Clothing, History, material culture, Museums, Research

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

18th century clothes, CoBloWriMo, fashion, Federal New England Fashion, Rhode Island history, Sally Brown Herreshoff, style

Bodice, painted Indian cotton, 1780-1795 RIHS 1990.36.27

Bodice, painted Indian cotton, 1780-1795
RIHS 1990.36.27

Once upon a time, not very long ago, when I worked in a historic house museum, I was asked to present at a conference in Worcester. I chose to talk about these fragments, and I still like to think about them. The delicate fabric was saved as a pair of sleeves, a bodice with a tiny peplum, a skirt.

Sleeves, removed from bodice 1990.36.27. RIHS 1990.36.25A-B

Sleeves, removed from bodice 1990.36.27.
RIHS 1990.36.25A-B

The pieces appear to have been part of a pieced-back closed-front gown with a matching petticoat circa 1785. I think someone decided (quite rightly) that the style was too passé for 1795, and altered the gown significantly.

Not only is there evidence of new sleeves being fitted into the gown’s armscyes, we have the sleeves-that-used-to-be. And my dear! No one is wearing sleeves like that this season!

I find these garments in limbo really fascinating. Was that bodice finished and worn with a matching petticoat? (Yes, there’s a panel of that left, too; what a lovely hem!)

Skirt panel, painted Indian cotton. RIHS 1990.36.33

Skirt panel, painted Indian cotton.
RIHS 1990.36.33

Who wore the gown? Was it Sally Brown, born in 1773? And did she alter it, or did her sister’s mantua maker, Nancy Smith? We can only guess at this point, as so many documents remain in private hands. The alterations are not as finely done as the original gown, so I think there are two hands at work here– whose were those hands? There’s always more to think about and learn.

In case you’re wondering, thanks to the Met, we can see what the gown probably looked like in its first incarnation, and then what the alterations were meant to achieve. (Link to the gown on the left; link to the gown on the right.)

Robe a l'anglaise, 1785-1795 MMA 2009.300.647
Robe a l’anglaise, 1785-1795 MMA 2009.300.647
Gown and petticoat, 1790-1794 MMA C.I.45.6a,b
Gown and petticoat, 1790-1794 MMA C.I.45.6a,b

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A Giant One-Night Stand

26 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by kittycalash in Events, History, Living History, Museums, Philosophy, Reenacting

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

anarchist guide to historic house museums, authenticity, experimental archaeology, first person interpretation, historic house museums, interpretation, John Brown House Museum, Rhode Island history, What Cheer Day

Drunk Tailor’s told you some of the story, and Our Girl History a little bit more, but here we specialize in confessions, so let’s begin.

One night stands: no, not that kind, this kind: the Anarchist kind. I’ve been following Mr Vagnone’s work for some time now, and while museum professionals are not all in agreement about his techniques and approaches, I find them intriguing and thought provoking. I’ve also found that the best way to accomplish anything is by baby steps, as annoying as that can be. That’s how we got to this What Cheer Day: incremental progress over a five-year period. What was so different? Well….

Jimmie and Billie, unwell and unable to dress themselves without Gideon's aid. Photograph by J. D. Kay

Jimmie and Billie, unwell and unable to dress themselves without Gideon’s aid. Photograph by J. D. Kay

To begin with, we slept in the house. Eight of us. In the period beds and on the period sofas. No harm came to anything, except the gentlemen, who seem to have contracted mild, possibly mold-based, ailments from ancient feather beds.*

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We scampered around the enormous house (I swear the front hallway would contain my entire flat, both floors!) in bare feet and period night clothes. I has a regret about that, because the floors could be cleaner, and I forgot to ask for my slippers back.  

Anyway:

Big house. Dark night. Flickering candles. Rain storm. Cantonware cider jug.

Mind blowing.

Why? Why do it? Why risk it? Why, when I’ve been there after dark? Why, when I’ve slept in other historic houses and historic beds? Because to really understand someone, you have to walk in their shoes– or sleep in their bed, as the case may be.

Goody Morris makes up a bed. Photograph by J. D. Kay

Goody Morris makes up a bed. Photograph by J. D. Kay

I lay in bed in an enormous mansion house, the first one built on the hill in Providence, completed in 1788. Almost every week, I tell the story of the house, the family moving, James complaining about the June heat as he walked up the hill from Water Street to move into the new brick edifice. I tell the story of Abby’s wedding, the longways dances on the second floor of the unfinished house, candles and dancers glittering in the enormous mirrors at either end of adjoining rooms. But I’d never seen it. I’d never heard it. I’d never really thought about service circulation and stealthy maneuverings in the house.

Now I have.

Now I have lain in the enveloping warmth of a feather bed and heard the rain pouring outside, and nothing else. I’ve heard the deep quiet of thick brick walls. I’ve seen the utter darkness of the house at night, and, padding up the stairs to bathroom, been comforted by the presence of my companions even as they failed to sleep across the hall.**

A dreadful night: almost too much to bear. Photograph by J. D. Kay.

A dreadful night: almost too much to bear. Photograph by J. D. Kay.

To enter the room as a maid, I’ve used the doorway from the former service stairs, and silently carried in a jug to serve the occupants. I’ve gotten closer to the near-invisible role of servants, in a period when full invisibility hasn’t yet been established. I’ve watched someone I love sleep off a migraine in a room where we interpret illness and 18th century medicine.

Best Maid/Bad Maid.  Photograph by J. D. Kay

Best Maid/Bad Maid. Photograph by J. D. Kay

All of that is mundane. And because I did all of that in a historic house with period furnishings, all of that is magical. My job now is take what I have learned and felt, and find new ways to use those personal experiences to connect our visitors’ personal experiences to a larger (and a smaller) story about Providence, early Federal Rhode Island, and a family.

 

 

* Most amazingly comfortable feather beds ever. Drunk Tailor’s review is unprintable on a family blog, but hilarious.

** Sorry about that… I slept pretty well, considering.

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What Cheer! Week

19 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by kittycalash in Events, Living History, Museums

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

first person interpretation, interpretation, living history, Museums, Rhode Island Historical Society, Rhode Island history, What Cheer Day

It takes a lot of china to serve a family.

It takes a lot of china to serve a family.

What Cheer! Wednesday: that’s today, with a preview of What Cheer Day itself as props are distributed through the house, the display cases open for viewing and a talk and demonstration of early Federal-era fashion in Rhode Island at 2:30 today. Or not— since we have another program at 4:00. At least I found out before lunchtime.

It’s not the first time I’ve packed a day as full as possible– in fact, I know more is possible, because I’ve done it.

A maid and her mistress

A maid and her mistress

Yesterday, in addition to packing up a small household for use on Saturday, m’colleague and I dressed two mannequins– well, one and a half, since the mistress still needs some work. I don’t know how I forgot the second petticoat when it was right there on my list, but so it goes. Mannequin dressing will finish this morning for this afternoon’s free talk and demonstration.

Saturday, though: that’s the really exciting day, when Alice tries to sneak past her mother after staying out all night at a party. Julia Bowen may not be the good influence we thought she was, if her uncle is anything to judge by.

img_8278

The fun starts at 1:00 PM and runs until 6:00, so we can take advantage of what we learned for After Dark. Extending the life of program research: is there anything better? Maybe a new Spencer, finally completed after more than a year. The weather promises to be chilly enough to make a Spencer necessary, not that I could resist flashing buttons anyway.

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The Warren Commission

06 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by kittycalash in 1830s, Clothing, Events, History, Museums

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

1820s, Arcade Providence, first person interpretation, interpretation, living history, Mrs Russell Warren, Rhode Island Historical Society, Rhode Island history

Mrs Russell Warren, oil on canvas by Henry Cheever Pratt ca 1824. RIHS 1917.8.2

Mrs Russell Warren, oil on canvas by Henry Cheever Pratt ca 1824. RIHS 1917.8.2

In addition to the Pabodie Project due in November, I recently committed to appearing at the Providence Arcade on October 14 as Mrs Russell Warren at the party celebrating the launch of the Russell Warren project. As you might have gathered, she’s the architect’s wife, a role I know something about having observed the species in its native habitat for the better part of my life.

This look seemed achievable, once a few compromises were made. To begin with, I scrapped the notion of replicating a silk taffeta gown: too dear for so short a time. I felt some comfort in  this decision as I think the sleeves indicate a rather later date than 1824, and I am, in fact, striving for an Arcade-opening-appropriate dress suitable for about 1826.

So, what to do? Well, thank goodness men like to shoot at plywood and win feathers. My plan is to wear the brown striped gown with the existing belt and accessorize with a new antique lace pelerine-collar type device, I also  plan [hope to] make a new extreme jellyfish cap and possibly a new bonnet.

I have the supplies. Do I have the time and will power? Stay tuned for the next installment of, “Yes, I may be overbooked.”

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Tavern on the Green

28 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by kittycalash in Events, Living History, Reenacting, Research

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

18th century, authenticity, common people, Events, interpretation, living history, Newport, Rhode Island, Rhode Island history

[Not] Mrs Guernsey and Mrs Holstein

[Not] Mrs Guernsey and Mrs Holstein

The wags will quip and Mr M certainly did, to my delight, though I might more properly have been Mrs Fjäll, but that’s neither here nor there.

DSCN4451
DSCN4459

We offered games, beverages, and tavern food as best we could in the makeshift setting of Washington Square in Newport and served as the site of an impressment riot based on incidents involving sailors from the Maidstone in June, 1765. Custom had been brisk before the Royal Navy so rudely imposed upon our establishment, and dragged off some of our best patrons– leaving their debts unpaid, of course.

Barmaid. Bouncer. Bobby.

Barmaid. Bouncer. Bobby.

We resorted to more gaming, though even that was risky: a young, possibly motherless thief whose trousers barely contain his calves made off with our winnings, and had to be chased down. Fortunately, despite her propensity to smoke, the barmaid was able to apprehend him and, money restored and apology made to Mistress B, we allowed him at our table– I believe we are a better influence than the company he had been keeping, as our trade is honest even if modest.

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DSCN4455

Much was on offer in town on Saturday, and while Miss C had advertised Hogarth and Sandby throughout the morning, by late in the day, she still had no offers, and the pair were advertising themselves effectively. ‘Tis a pity, for with fish unsold, another day passes and Miss C’s gown remains in pawn, and her shiftless husband’s shoes as well– even the Navy did not want him, for he professes never to work and affects half-wittedness that conceals his natural wit.


Despite hiccups along the way, setting up a tavern on the green, even in this kind of makeshift way, allowed us to do something I’m always excited about: interpret the history of working women. Serendipitously, one of my favorite books delves into the history of women and business both large and mostly small, and examines Newport. The Ties that Buy, by Eleanor Hartigan-O’Connor is one of the best books on 18th century women’s history that I’ve read, making clear that women, despite their restricted legal status, conducted business, had lines of credit, sued for non-payment of debts, and participated in expanding consumer networks. This book, in addition to research into punch, alcohol, Rhode Island taverns (and I’ve got ready access to tavern ledgers) grounded the interpretation of the Sign of the Two Old Cows. The best part of the intersection of living history and research is bringing actual people from the past to life, and reshaping the way the public understands and appreciates history. For Two Old Cows and a book, I think we did pretty well.

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