Cultural Orientation and Meaning Meaning in Artifacts: Hall Furnishings in Victorian America

Kenneth L. Ames B. A. Art History, Carleton College, 1964 M. A. Art History, University of Pennsylvania, 1966 Ph. D. Art History, University of Pennsylvania, 1970 Art History faculty, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA ( ) Professor and department chair, Office of Advanced Studies, H. F. du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur DE ( ) Head of History Survey, New York State Museum, Albany NY ( ) Professor, American decorative arts, Bard Graduate Center, New York NY (1996-) “Renaissance Revival Furniture in America.” University of Pennsylvania, Ph.d "Grand Rapids Furniture at the Time of the Centennial." Winterthur Portfolio 10. Ian M. G. Quimby, ed., (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1975), "What is the neo-grec?" Nineteenth Century 2:2 (Summer, 1976), "Sitting in (Neo-Grec) Style." Nineteenth Century 2:3-4 (Autumn, 1976), Beyond Necessity: Art in the Folk Tradition (Winterthur, DE: Winterthur Museum; New York: distributed by W. W. Norton, Material culture: a research guide. Lawrence, Kan. : University Press of Kansas, Death in the dining room and other tales of Victorian culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, Ideas and images : developing interpretive history exhibits. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1992.

What does this article do? Explores the social meaning of the passage in the upper middle class homes of the second half of the nineteenth century. Emphasis on role that the study of material culture can make to the study of American values and history. Everyday artifacts hold just as much value as the truly singular and monumental structures.

Upper class home of post Civil War period

Hypothesis and source The hypothesis is that the hall (better called a passage) is a unique space, neither interior or exterior in which each visitor was evaluated, some allowed entry and others restricted. Three pieces of furniture in the hall--the hall stand, setting chair or small settee, and card receiver--create the atmosphere of gentility and yet limited access. trade catalogs, artifacts, and the prescriptive social literature of the nineteenth century. Library of Congress Smithsonian Institution

The hall tree had four functional components, holding umbrellas, holding hats and coats, a mirror and a small table

The ingredients The umbrella is a class symbol that remained a mark of gentility to the end of the century. The coat and hat holders were concerns of personal attire and only used for short term visitors, while the mirror was both an element of personal grooming and an object of conspicuous consumption. The table too, often covered with marble was an elaboration and object of conspicuous consumption. Through elaboration and symmetry the hall stand made a statement of social differentiation.

When is a chair, not a chair The chair, too, contributed to the ostentatious statement of the hall furniture while being severe, with a plank seat, and uncomfortable for sitting. Social equals were shown into the living space, and only service and soliciting guests were going to sit in the hall.

Is this study valid Appropriate because Victorian culture concerned about material culture. field of study--upper middle class in urban areas. sources of artifacts--factory made, mass produced. sources of information--problems of prescriptive literature, use trade catalogs region: north eastern United States--homogeneity Need to know spaces--two types, narrow passage or wide hall Cluster analysis. Horizons of linked formally constellations of artifacts

The card server was the vehicle for distinguishing rank. The etiquette of calling and announcing oneself was enacted through the personal card. The cards enabled individuals to establish their relative social rank and served to solidify the class system.

Service bell

The calling card, salver & stand