The Historical Process

Assignment #2
The current owner of the sugar-bowl and gravy boat is Grace, but I do not think that she is the first owner of either object.  After my brief meeting with her, I believe that the objects had quite a history before coming into her possession.  The gravy boat is clearly dated to 1961 as noted by the maker’s mark on the base; Grace appears to be in her early to mid 30s.  However, I do not know any more information about its history before she owned them.  I politely told her the purpose and approach of this project and requested that she provide me with as little information as possible.  Furthermore, both pieces showed signs of extensive use.  The sugar-bowl had tarnished areas, surface scratches, and a dent on the rim.  The gravy boat was discolored in areas, the bottom of the foot rim was chipped, and the decoration was worn around the spout and handle. 

Both objects were originally produced as utilitarian wares.  Sugar-bowls are traditionally part of a tea set while gravy boats are part of dinnerware/tableware settings.  The wear described above demonstrates that the objects were not, at least initially, treated as merely objects for display.  This observation especially applies to the gravy boat; it has discoloration on the inside and around the spout and the gold decoration is worn in the areas where it would be held during service.  Interacting with the objects absolutely impacted my impression of them.  If I had seen the pieces from afar, I would not have been able to observe many of the subtle signs of wear such as the small chips missing from the bottom of the gravy boat or the dent on the rim of the sugar bowl.  I do not think that I would have felt that they were used as extensively as I have asserted had I not been able to see them up close and make note of all of the details.

I noticed that Grace had the serving pieces wrapped in layers of tissue paper and she handled them with extreme care.  This shouldn’t be a surprise considering the nature of this project is to exhibit objects that are important to ordinary people.  However, I noted the markings on the bottom of the vessels and Grace commented on the fact that she had never noticed the maker’s marks on the sugar-bowl or gravy boat.  I found that particularly interesting considering that, as an archaeologist, my first inclination is to look on the bottom of objects to see if it can tell me anything about them.  This also reinforced my impression that the two pieces were not often, or ever, used as serving pieces.  It seems that the purpose of the vessels evolved from utilitarian to sentimental and/or decorative as the ownership changed.