The Sauceboat of a Signer

It is amazing how one tiny fragment of pottery from an archaeological dig can tell us the appearance and function of an entire object. At Historic Annapolis, we have been delving deep into past archaeological records to see if they can tell us anything new about William Paca’s Annapolitan lifestyle.

Figure 1: White salt-glazed stoneware fragment found during the William Paca House garden excavations

This white salt-glazed stoneware fragment was dug up in the 1960s from the area just in front of the west wing of the William Paca House.[1] Although it may not look like much in its current state, a closer examination of its shape enables a direct match to be made with a white salt-glazed sauceboat on exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The diaper pattern and the rococo edge of the fragment perfectly matches the sauceboat. This match gives us a wealth of information about William Paca’s tastes in both fashion and food!

Figure 2: White salt-glazed stoneware sauce boat. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Online: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O151250/sauce-boat-unknown/

The design of the sauceboat and the material in which it was made conveys that William Paca was an exceedingly fashionable gentleman. Rococo tableware was all the rage amongst elite circles from London to Annapolis in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. An excavation of the Calvert House on State Circle, Annapolis, has revealed that the Calvert family owned rococo style white salt-glazed plates with similar decorative motifs to William Paca’s sauceboat.

Figure 3: White salt-glazed plate from the Governor Calvert House. http://www.aia.umd.edu/seeking_liberty/gov_calvert.html

What would have been served in William Paca’s sauceboat?

The colonial dining table would often have included a large dish of meat or fish accompanied by a complementary sauce served in an elegant sauceboat. A popular combination was the serving of duck with an orange sauce, a pairing still popular today! To make your own authentic eighteenth-century dish, follow these instructions:

·         1.) Stuff a duck with a mixture of ducks liver, streaky bacon, butter, onions, parsley and mushrooms

·         2.) Place bacon slices on top of the duck and cover with paper (or foil if you want to follow twenty-first-century conventions!)

·         3.) When the duck has been roasted, pour some of the gravy juices into a stew pot

·         4.) Add minced shallots and the juice of an orange to the stew pot and heat[2]

·         5.) Serve the sauce in a beautiful rococo stoneware sauceboat

Figure 4. A little after Paca's time, a gentleman demonstrates the joy that a sauceboat (albeit a slightly less elegant version)  could bring.  A convalescing man happily eating a meal, assisted by his grinning servant, coloured etching by J. Sneyd, 1804, after J. Gillray.   © Wellcome Library, London http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/record=b1160208

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[1] Stanley South (1967). The Paca House: A Historical Archaeological Study. Alexandria, Va., Contract Archaeology.

[2] The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Online at http://recipes.history.org/2013/06/to-dress-duck-with-juice-of-oranges/

William Paca's "Sleeve Buttons"

Dusty, dog-eared reports that seem to sit unloved on office bookcases can bring to light a wealth of fascinating information; the William Paca cuff-link is a good case in point. Though this artefact has been known to us for some time, and even exhibited, it is revealing to revisit it and deepen our understanding of William Paca and late-eighteenth-century Annapolitan society as a whole. This brass cuff-link (or sleeve button as they were called in the 18^th century) was recovered from the archaeological excavations of the William Paca garden in the 1960s. From pottery fragments in the same archaeological layer, we can date this sleeve button to the time when William Paca lived in Prince George’s Street meaning that this sleeve button was almost certainly worn by William Paca himself. Although the design has lost its clarity over the centuries, we can still make out the image of a running fox and the word “tallio”. This gives the sleeve button a novelty appearance and shows that during his free time, William Paca was a keen foxhunter (as well as a snappy dresser) . William Paca was not the only colonial to own such a cufflink. The same design was incredibly popular in eighteenth century America and identical sleeve buttons have also been found at Williamsburg and Ferry Farm, George Washington’s childhood home.[1] The use of accessories to express a love of a particular sport is still practiced by many Americans today. Think of the modern baseball cap. Originally an essential and purely practical element of the outfit, the baseball cap (like Paca’s cufflink) now carries various baseball related designs intended to mark the user out as an enthusiast. The men of the 18^th century would have used their sleeve buttons to show that they were a fan of foxhunting much in the same way.

Figure 1:  Brass ‘tallio’ cufflink. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase.

Hunting in Colonial America

The motif and lettering gives us a clear indication that the owner enjoyed foxhunting. “Tallio”,  a quaint misspelling of Tally-Ho, demonstrates that the vernacular of the British hunting gentry was easily transferred to America where the sport continued to be practiced. The British citizens of colonial America wished to continue the leisurely pursuits of their homeland.

Who participated in American foxhunts? In Britain, hunting was a marker of high society. Due to the Game Laws Act of 1671 which ruled that one’s land had to be worth upwards of £100 per annum to participate, hunting in Britain was restricted to the landed gentry.[2] The right to foxhunt was less restricted in colonial America. However, only the Anglo-American landed elite would have had enough leisure time and have owned enough hounds and horses to be able to run their own pack. Though slaves and servants did not hunt the foxes on horseback, they still participated in the sport as huntsmen who controlled the hounds.[3] 

American fox-hunting in the colonial period did not generally consist of organized clubs. Instead, men would hunt in informal packs.[4] An exception to this was the Gloucester Fox-hunting Club, probably the first formally organized club of this kind in America. Formed in 1766 in a Philadelphia Coffee house, this club was full of important men such as Benjamin Chase who each paid a subscription fee of £5 for the maintenance of foxhound kennels.[5] William Paca himself probably hunted in private, informal packs with men of his station, perhaps on their plantations. His interest in hunting is clear from his sleeve button. It is also known that he had a keen interest in horse sports as he was a member of the Maryland Jockey Club.[6] Its members in 1783 included other Annapolitan elites such as Charles Carroll of Carrollton.[7] Charles Carroll was known for his love of foxhunting; perhaps the two neighbors and signers spent a few afternoons hunting together.

Many of William Paca’s contemporaries expressed in writing their fondness for the sport. George Washington in particular records diligently in his diary the pleasant and sometimes frustrating hours he spent indulging his hobby. In September of 1768 he laments that he “Went fox hunting in the Neck. Started and run a fox or foxes three hours and then lost”.[8] John Adams, at a Sons of Liberty meeting in 1769 records in his diary that they watched a Mimickry of “The Hunting of the Bitch Fox” indicating that it was an accepted part of the culture of the Anglo-American elite.[9]

Figure 2: Fairfax Fox-hunting with Washington. Engraver Henry Bryan Hall (after Felix F.O.C. Darcey). in: Irving, W. (1855) The Life of George Washington.

Maryland: The home of American fox-hunting?

Colonial Maryland had a special association with fox-hunting and it is apparent that its residents had a particular fondness for the sport. Maryland, like other the other prominent hunting colonies, Virginia and Delaware, was free from a puritanical influence which condemned sport.[10] Foxhunting could therefore flourish free from any moral condemnation. It was in Maryland that the sport first came to America. An English settler to Queen Anne’s County brought his pack of foxhounds and held the first fox-hunt on record in America around 1650.[11] It was also in Maryland in 1730, on the Eastern Shore that a few tobacco planters, talking wistfully of the red foxes of ‘merrie England’, decided to import eight red foxes from Liverpool to hunt in place of Maryland’s native gray.[12]

An apocryphal tale of Charles Carroll of Carrollton demonstrates the distinct sense of pride that Marylanders had in their sport. The story goes that Charles Carroll claimed that “fox-hunting was the grandest sport ever invented by man and [was] sanctioned by an all-wise providence”.[13] In response, Light-Horse Harry Lee commented that “tis hell if your nag is slow and your hounds poor”.[14] Charles Carroll immediately responded, with an unabashed sense of state pride, “I refer to fox-hunting in Maryland, sir”.[15]

Fox-hunting held a special place in the heart of Marylanders in the colonial period, so much so that it altered the lawmaking process. The 1765 Dog Bill which imposed a tax on owning more than two necessary dogs faced so much outcry and opposition that it was later amended to include the exception that

the keeping of Fox Hounds for destroying of Foxes is usefull and Necessary and that therefore they should be Allowed to be kept Tax free.[16]

Considering all this, one can imagine William Paca riding out on his prize horse, wearing his Tallio sleeve buttons and spending an enjoyable afternoon hunting.

Bibliography

Black, J. (2005) A Subject for Taste. Hambledon and London.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Museum Purchase [http://emuseum.history.org/view/objects/asitem/search@/0?t:state:flow=3744955c-83b4-4822-b4ea-ee4b940333e4] Last Accessed: 09/04/2014

Culver, F. (1922) Blooded Horses of Colonial Days: Classic horse matches made in America before the Revolution. Kessinger Publishing.

Fine, N. (2010) “Tally-ho Back”Foxhunting in North America and the MFHA. Centennial View. MFHA Foundation.

Founders.archives (2014a). Washington Papers. Online [http://founders.archives.gov/?q=Series%3AWashington-01&s=1511211112&r=1561] Last accessed: 09/04/2014

Founders.archives (2014b). Adams Papers. Online [http://founders.archives.gov/?q=%20Author%3A%22Adams%2C%20John%22&s=1511211112&r=1] Last accessed: 09/04/2014

Schemmer, C. (2011). Scanning pieces of past. Online 

[http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/092011/09272011/654031/index_html?page=1] Last accessed: 09/04/2014

Hiss, H. (1897) The Beginnings of Fox-hunting in America. Outing Magazine.

Maryland State Archives (2014). Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1766-1768 vol. 61. Online [http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/000001/000061/html/am61--242.html] Last accessed: 09/04/2014

Stewart, S. (1971) A Historical Survey of Foxhunting in the United States, 1650-1970. Ma Thesis. Denton, Texas.

South, S. (1969) The Paca House: A Historical Archaeology Study. Contract Archaeology Inc, Alexandria, Va.

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[1] Schemmer 2011

[2] Black 2005, 72

[3] Stewart 1971, 47

[4] Stewart 1971, 38

[5] Stewart 1971, 45

[6] Culver 1922, 70

[7] Culver 1922, 70

[8] Founders.archives 2014a

[9] Founders.archives 2014b

[10] Stewart 1971, 40

[11] Hiss 1897, 13

[12] Fine 2010, 3

[13] Hiss 1897, 160

[14] Hiss 1897, 160

[15] Hiss 1897, 160

[16] Maryland State Archives 2014

Patriotism & Pottery: Archaeological evidence from the Paca House

Discovered during the archaeological excavation of the Paca House gardens, this interesting ceramic fragment has recently been brought to our attention. It was excavated from a kitchen midden (heap of domestic waste) alongside late 18^th century pottery sherds and discarded oyster shells.[1] On this basis it can be dated to the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War, the period in which William Paca sold his house on Prince George Street to the lawyer Thomas Jenings.[2]

Fragment found in the Paca House gardens. South 1967, plate 85.

Patriotic Imagery

All that remains of the transfer printed image are two intertwining rings labelled “Delaware and Maryla[nd]”. These surround a figured design of which only an arm and a fallen crown remains. Fortunately, a complete example of this design exists in the form of a creamware pitcher. This preserved pitcher shows us how Jenings’ version would have looked when on display in the Paca house. It depicts the Arms of Virginia in the center with the names of the thirteen colonies around the outside and the words:

“Sic Semper Tyrannis”[3]

Thus always to tyrants

 

Creamware Pitcher with 'Arms of Virginia' design. McCauley 1942, plate XXXI.

The pitcher’s imagery celebrates the new and hard-bought independence of the colonies and denounces the tyranny of British rule. It is exactly the type of decorative object that one would expect to find in the home of the well-to-do American such as Jenings at the close of the 18^th century. However, its place of production is at odds with its revolutionary imagery.

British Potters, American Designs

This piece of ceramic would have been made, printed, glazed and fired in the British port and pottery center of Liverpool.[4] This commercial agreement between American consumers and British producers is at first puzzling. Why would Americans wish to become patrons of British ceramics after nearly a decade of trade embargoes and war? Why would British potters print with such readiness designs that flaunt their recent defeat? This pitcher represents just one of many patriotic American designs produced and shipped in great quantities to America by British potters.[5] Other examples include a series of creamware blue plates that were created by Staffordshire potters in the 1790s in celebration of George Washington’s presidency.[6]

George Washington commemorative creamware plate. American Historical Staffordshire 2014a.

The zeal with which British potters created patriotic designs for the American market continued even when hostilities resumed between the United States and Great Britain during the War of 1812.[7] During the aftermath of this war, a new transfer-printed ceramic series was created which closely paralleled the Jenings pitcher in both design and theme.[8] Made by the Clew brothers in Staffordshire, the “States border series” adapted the pitcher’s decorative scheme of a patriotic scene celebrating independence encircled by the names of the states.[9]

States Series Border creamware platter. American Historical Staffordshire 2014b.

The success of this transatlantic commercial endeavor can be explained by the ingenuity of British potters responding to a burgeoning market. Thanks to industrialization and the innovative development of creamware (a cheaper alternative to Chinese porcelain) by Josiah Wedgwood, English ceramics were desirable imports across the pond.[10] It was however, the marketing skills and good business sense of British potters that enabled them to capitalize on a variety of markets and patrons ranging from European royalty, the British middle classes to the newly independent and patriotic citizens of the United States.[11] Thomas Jenings of Annapolis was just one such customer who expressed his patriotism through the ingenuity of the British ceramics industry.

Written by OUIIP intern, Florence Douglas

If you want to hear more about colonial and federalist pottery from the Paca House, be sure to attend Florence's evening talk on the 28th of August. See our website for more details.

Bibliography

American Historical Staffordshire 2014a. A rare early American themed plate. Available at: http://www.americanhistoricalstaffordshire.com/pottery/ceramics/rare-early-american-themed-plate. Last accessed 8/5/2014.

American Historical Staffordshire 2014b. America and Independence #04. Available at: http://www.americanhistoricalstaffordshire.com/pottery/printed-designs/patterns/america-independence-04.  Last accessed 8/5/2014.

McCauley, R. 1942. Liverpool Transfer Designs on Anglo-American Pottery. The Southworth-Anthoensen Press.

Miller, G. 1984. Marketing Ceramics in North America: An introduction. Winterthur Portfolio 19 (1): 1-5.

Nelson, C. 1980. Transfer-printed Creamware and Pearlware for the American market. Winterthur Portfolio 15 (2): 93-115.

South, S. 1967. The Paca House: A Historical Archaeology Study. Contract Archaeology Inc, Alexandria, Va.

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[1] South 1967, 140

[2] South 1967, 38

[3] McCauley 1942, 129

[4] McCauley 1942, 129

[5] Nelson 1980, 94

[6] American Historical Staffordshire 2014a

[7] Nelson 1980, 99

[8] American Historical Staffordshire 2014b

[9] American Historical Staffordshire 2014b

[10] Miller 1984

[11] Miller 1984, 2