In preparation for our Monday 7/12 talk by Collections Manager, Tara Vose, please consider the role that objects and artifacts, such as textiles, furniture, ceramics, tools and so on, from everyday life play in important rituals, such as a weddings.
For further information on textiles and costumes, follow me at Silkbrocade or go to strawberybanke.org and click on the link to the Passion for Fashion blog. You can also follow me on Twitter@ Silkbrocade.
Boy's Sailor Suit, ca. 1840-1850
While we do not know much about the family or maker of the boy’s sailor suit, this simple two-piece outfit of shirt and trousers nonetheless had the ability to conjure up images of New England’s long relationship with the sea and the maritime trade. Made of homespun and entirely hand stitched, incredible care went into its planning from the hand stitched blue collar to the two milk glass buttons of the drop front trousers. Even the shirt ties are placed with care. Dated circa 1840-1850 based on men’s clothing of the time, its provenance is unknown. When placed on the mannequin, the little sailor assumes a playful air.
Kimberly Alexander, Ph.d.
Chief Curator
Strawbery Banke Museum
Photographs: Tara Vose
Mannequin: Created by Astrida Shaeffer
From: The Collection of Strawbery Banke Museum
Featured: “Through the Eye of the Needle: Family Stories, Sewing Stories” Portsmouth Athenaeum, Winter 2009.
The little boy's sailor suit reminds me of the ways we subtly or not-so-subtly steer our children toward what we consider their appropriate adult lives. A child may take pride in dressing like Daddy or Mommy but as s/he wears these clothes s/he may take on the feel of the role that will be hers/his one day.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with GrammiePoet's post on this topic. I feel it is similar to having your parent present what they do for a job in your class in elementary school because kids (in most cases) want to be like their parents. Also, as many of you know, many kids can't wait to be adults although after they get there they want to go back!
ReplyDeleteI also agree, and I still see this sort of thing happening, just not as often. My neighbor is a firefighter, and his 5 year old son loves his kid-sized fire gear. I'm not sure if the dad wants his son to follow in his footsteps or if the boy asked for the uniform, but he takes such pride in it.
ReplyDeleteSorry for posting so late, but I have just resolved my technical issues. Artifacts, such as the picture above, show us the cultural, religious, educational, and everyday tools they might have used. They give us some insight to how they might have lived and how they differed from today's lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I think that artifacts tend to give us a narrow view of history. For example, when looking at a piece of pottery, we can only focus on that era. For instance, if we are have an old piece of tapestry from 1776, we can only view the sewing techniques of 1776 and nothing before or after. I suppose that is why museums have several artifacts, so by looking through them all, we can get the overall picture.