What Is It? Where Is It? (December): The Redware Plate Found in the Dining Room

This month's "What Is It? Where Is It?" is a piece of the redware plate that was found underneath the floorboards in the dining room of the Keith House in July, 1991. It is currently on display in the Visitors' Center. I was unable to confirm why the floorboards were removed in 1991 - the floor in this room was actually replaced in 1969 when the state was doing restoration work, so it is a mystery why the plate was not discovered then.

Redware is a type of pottery that was common in the 17th and 18th centuries and made with the red clay that is abundant in southeastern Pennsylvania (as well other places). It was cheap to produce because the materials were available locally and was fired at a lower temperature than other, harder potteries. It was very common among the German immigrants in this area. This piece is considered "slipware" or decorated in "slip." The pattern is made by mixing clay with other minerals and water and then squeezing or painting this watered down mixture onto the red clay body before firing. Original glazes often contained lead.

Another common decorating technique is sgraffito, in which a solid coating of slip (the watered down clay mixture) is applied to the redware and then a design is scratched into it (the word comes from the Italian verb sgraffire, which means "to scratch"), revealing the background layer and color. Both techniques can be executed in layers and with multi-colored and complex designs, making this utilitarian pottery a true art form which is still created to this day using the same techniques used by artisans 300 years ago.

To review all of the "What Is It? Where Is Its" from the year, click here.

What Is It? Where Is It? (December)

Well, we've finally reached the end of 2013, so it is time for our final installation of "What Is It? Where Is It?", our monthly guessing game where readers are asked what is featured in the photo and where it is located at Graeme Park. In the past months, we've included things like Elizabeth's commonplace book, the dasher from the butter churn, the lifting stone located outside the Keith House, and the marriage marks in the barn office. December's pick might be pretty obvious - consider it your Christmas gift.

What Is It? Where Is It? (Octo-vember): The Commonplace Book

Did you guess that this is a page from one of Elizabeth's commonplace books?

If you're a friend of Elizabeth's on Facebook, you might even recognize it as her cover photo. So what the heck is a commonplace book anyway? Well, as you might have gathered from our blog name and blurb, it is a collection of writings, some original, some quoted, that is meant to be shared with others. There are three commonplace books of Elizabeth's known to be in existence: ours, known as the Willing Commonplace Book, was created for the Willing sisters between 1787 and 1789. Dickinson College owns a second volume that was created for Annis Boudinot Stockton, mother-in-law of Dickinson's founder Benjamin Rush. This volume contains Elizabeth's poetry and the poetry of her niece, Anny Young Smith. The third volume is known as the Yale Commonplace Book and is held by the Library Company of Philadelphia. 

Elizabeth's writings are also prominently featured in Milcha Martha Moore's published commonplace book and provide us with access to parts of Elizabeth's lost journal that she kept while she traveled in Europe. This multi-volume journal was sent back to America as she finished each part and was eagerly anticipated by her friends and family, who enjoyed reading about her experiences and observations. Unfortunately the original, complete, journals disappeared and have not been seen since prior to the mid-19th century, but this loss demonstrates the importance of commonplace books as a recording method. 

If you're interested in learning more about Elizabeth, we've recently stocked paperback copies of her biography, The Most Learned Woman in America by Anne Ousterhout in our shop, which is open Fridays-Sundays.

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What Is It? Where Is It? (Octo-vember)

October was such a busy month with weddings, parties, and our annual Halloween tour, that we didn't get a chance to post an October "What Is It? Where Is It?", so once again we're combining two months together to bring you the Octo-vember edition!

Can you guess what the following document is and where it resides?

We'll be back next week with the answer and a bit of history.

What Is It? Where Is It? (September): Doornails on the Keith House Door

We finished up September with another architectural feature of the Keith House for our monthly "What Is It? Where Is It?" post. Did you guess that the photo below

was a close-up of the doornails on the inside of the Keith House office door?

Have you ever heard the expression "dead as a doornail?" Early plank style doors generally had "battens" (horizontal boards) on the reverse side to help strengthen and stabilize them. Nails were hammered through the planks and battens to hold them together and the pointed end of the nail that stuck out through the other side would be bent over, or "cinched" or "clenched," thus rendering the nail "dead" or unable to be pulled out and recycled.

Hand-wrought square nails were both valuable (a lot of work went into forging them by hand) and more difficult to pull out then our modern round wire nails. For this reason, it was not uncommon for the colonists to burn down a building and sift through the ashes to recover the nails for reuse as it was easier than pulling them out and cheaper then making new. 

The machines to make cut nails, which allowed nails to be produced faster and cheaper, were invented in the mid-1700s but were not very efficient or common until after the Revolution when America needed and wanted to break it's dependence on English nails. 

The featured Keith House door is a reproduction based on what we believe was the original door. It is a paneled door with planks nailed to the interior. The nails on the inside are functional in that they serve to hold the two sides of the door together but they are also spaced out and arranged in a pleasing pattern which follows the lines of the rails and stiles (the horizontal and vertical pieces that surround the panels) on the exterior of the door. They do not protrude through the door, therefore they are only visible on the interior plank side and do not need to be cinched. There are those who believe decorative nails were used as a show of wealth, but experts at Williamsburg dispute this.

Sources

http://www.gregorylefever.com/pdfs/Early%20Nails%202.pdf

http://www.appaltree.net/aba/nails.htm 

http://brenthullcompanies.com/blog/2013/06/plank-door-construction/#.Ukc0f9K-pZI

http://brenthullcompanies.com/blog/2013/07/transitional-doors/#.Ukc5ytK-pZI

What Is It? Where Is It? (September)

Can you believe it is almost October already? But we couldn't let September end without another exciting edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" our monthly game that asks readers to try and identify what is featured in the below photo and where it is located in the Keith House, grounds, or barn.

So what do you think? Can you guess what is featured below and where it is located?

You can add your guess to the comments section or in Facebook. We'll be back next week with the answer.

What Is It? Where Is It? (August): Quintal Vase

This month's "What is It? Where is It?" got lots of correct guesses of "a vase" through our Facebook page, but no one got the specific type of vase. It is officially known as a "quintal" or "five finger" vase. The form was originally developed by the Dutch to display tulips and was copied by 18th century English potters. They were popular because they allowed for a fuller looking arrangement with minimal flowers - today we might make a small cluster of bud vases to achieve the same effect.

Graeme Park has two of these vases, both displayed in the master bedroom. Ours are reproductions made in Holland and the United States. 

What Is It? Where Is It? (August)

We're nearing the end of August already - can you believe Labor Day Weekend is just two weeks away? Of course this means it's time for another exciting edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" - our monthly guessing game where you, dear reader, try to guess what is pictured in the photograph and where it is located at Graeme Park. We've covered the lifting stone, brazier, portrait of Ann Graeme, butter churn, door counter weight, and marriage marks so far and hope you've learned a little something about items in our collection and the architecture of the buildings. So, what do you think the below object is? I'll give you a hint: it's not a ceramic baseball mitt. 

Let the guessing begin! You can post your responses here in a comment or on our Facebook link. We'll be back next week with the answer. Also, don't forget we're presenting a Living History Theater program on the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 next Sunday - it a great opportunity to sneak in a little learning before school starts and entertaining too. 

What Is It? Where Is It? (Jun-ly): The Lifting Stone

Due to the time demands of putting on our 17th annual Celtic Festival, we combined the June and July "What Is It? Where Is It?" into one Jun-ly post and charged readers with guessing what the above object is and where it is located at Graeme Park.

The where is pretty easy if you're at all familiar with the house. It sits atop a stone pillar on the north, or former garden side of the house - you can just make it out there over on the far left corner of the building.

This isn't its original location though, as you can see in this 1958 HABS (Historic American Building Survey) photograph where it is absent.

I couldn't find the specific citation of where it originally was located on the property, but we've always know it to have been "at the entrance."

Now the more interesting question here is "What Is It?" Early 20th century references have called it "the lifting stone" and it has been described as being used by Governor Keith to test the strength of both applicants for work and slaves he was considering for purchase.

In 1912, in their book The Colonial Homes of Philadelphia and It's Neighbourhood, Harold Donaldson Eberlein and Horace Mather Lippincott provided the following description:

Lofty sentinel sycamores in front of the mansion, indicate what was once the entrance to the courtyard. All around are ancient trees, many of them doubtless survivors from the primeval forest. Not far away is the great "lifting stone," a mushroom-shaped boulder with which Sir William always tested the strength of an applicant for work. If he could not lift it - and it is of substantial weight - he was not employed.

A few years later, In his 1917 book, Old Roads Out of Philadelphia, John Tomson Faris, described its location and function as:

Crowning a gatepost before the farmhouse of the present owner of the property, Morris B. Penrose, is the curious mushroom-shaped boulder used by Sir William as a test of the strength of applicants for work. Those who could not lift the stone could not hope for employment.

In 1937 the writers involved in a New Deal Federal Writers' Project, Philadelphia, A Guide to the Nation's Birthplace, identified a more sinister explanation for the stone:

In front of the house is Sir William's "lifting-stone," a large mushroom shaped boulder which he used to test the strength of slaves before purchasing them.

The stone was placed in its current location, a reconstructed pillar from the garden wall, by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during one of its early restoration phases on the house. It is cemented in place and we do not know the weight of it, but it appears quite heavy. We don't have any anecdotal evidence as to whether or not anyone was ever able to lift it, other than to assume that if Keith wouldn't hire anyone who couldn't and we know he had laborers working here, that they must have been able to. Regardless, it is a fun story to tell and is usually met with doubt by visitors.

What Is It? Where Is It? (Jun-ly)

Yes, that's right - Jun-ly (pronounced june-lie). It's a new month I made up to cover both the June and July "What Is It? Where Is It?" since the lead up to our 17th annual Celtic Festival (and the first time we made it a Celtic Weekend) just got too crazy and June and most of July got away from me. So here we are, almost at the end of July and hopefully back on track and getting caught up.

If you've been to Graeme Park, the "where" part of the question should be pretty easy to answer this time around, as it is a pretty distinctive feature, but do you know "what" it is? Or what we've been told it is anyway?

Post your guesses here in the comments or on the Facebook link and we'll be back next week with the answer. Also in the name of getting caught up, stay tuned for a Celtic wrap-up and our June and July weddings.

What Is It? Where Is It? (May): The Brazier

This month's edition of What Is It? Where Is It? features the brazier from the master bedroom. A brazier is a container for fire, usually taking the form of a metal box. They are used for light and heat and also for some cooking and cultural rituals. Braziers have been recovered from many early archaeological sites and the Hebrew word for it is of Egyptian origin, suggesting the Egyptians may have been the ones to invent it. In Japanese, the word for brazier is "hibachi" - a word we may be more familiar with in modern times.

The flat supports around the top of the brazier were to support a pot or kettle - do you notice how they are a little elevated? That was to provide a bit of air space so the pot would not smother the fire. Because this example is in a bedroom we can surmise that it may have been for heating water for tea or washing up rather than cooking, which would have been done in the summer kitchen.

What Is It? Where Is It? (May)

It's time for the May edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" - our monthly photo game where we show readers a picture of something around Graeme Park and invite you to try and identify what it is and where it is located in the Keith House, summer kitchen or barn. This month's object is something that always seems to intrigue our visitors - so what do you think? Can you guess what it is? Post your guesses here as a comment or on our Facebook page. We'll be back next weekend with the answer.

What Is It? Where Is It? (April): Portrait of Ann Graeme

This month's "What Is It? Where Is It?" should have, at the very least, been obvious that it was part of a painting - you can even see part of the frame along the edge.

It is in fact the right hand of Ann Diggs Graeme, wife of Dr. Thomas Graeme for whom Graeme Park is named. The painting is unsigned, but has been attributed to Robert Feke (most of his existing works are unsigned) and shows many of the characteristics of his portraits, including the background. Most likely the hands, as was typical of 18th century portraits, were painted by an assistant or apprentice, and Feke then came in and did the face while Mrs. Graeme posed for the portrait.

The portrait of Ann Graeme is a reproduction, as are the other adult portraits that hang in the parlor of the Keith House. The originals are owned by descendants of Dr. and Mrs. Graeme's daughter, Mary Jane Graeme, and her husband, James Young, who was also painted by Feke. In fact, it was one of these relatives who correctly guessed what this month's "What is It? Where is It?" was in one of our Facebook comments.

As for what it is that Mrs. Graeme is holding, we're not actually sure but it is often speculated on by our visitors. Our guess has always been a snuff box of some sort. Because of the tradition of having the hands painted separately by an apprentice, we don't really know if it was even an item she owned, or just something the artist chose to depict.

We'll be back in May with our next edition.

What Is It? Where Is It? (April)

Now that the World War II Weekend is behind us, we can breathe again and get back to regular business, like the April "What Is It? Where Is It?" Challenge where we post a photo of some part of Graeme Park and invite readers to try to guess what the photo is and where it was taken at Graeme Park. If you've been following along with previous months' challenges, you know we've featured items in and around the barn/Visitors' Center and summer kitchen so far, but anywhere on the property is fair game. So, without further ado, "What Is It? Where Is It?"

We'll be back next week with the answer but feel free to post your guess in the comments section or on Facebook.

What Is It? Where Is It? (March): Butter Churn Dasher

March's "What Is It? Where Is It?" featured an item that should have looked familiar to the folks who took Erin's Hearth Cooking Class last Saturday as it was located in the Summer Kitchen and they all took turns using it to make butter for the bread that they baked in the kitchen's bake oven.

It is the dasher from the butter churn. The wooden dasher fits inside the wooden churn (like a wooden barrel, the churn needs to be soaked so the wood swells and the contents don't all leak out) and is moved up and down to churn the cream into butter. The constant motion causes the fat globules in the cream to stick together (the butter) while the buttermilk (or water part of the cream) separates out. Once the butter is made, it needs to be drained and pressed to remove additonal liquid and form a nice, creamy spread. In a full size churn it can take some time, but the results are well worth it. There are some shortcuts you can take though to produce homemade butter with less effort, including churning with a mixer, putting the cream in a sealed jar and driving around with it, or making small quantities in a jar by shaking (this is a great activity for kids).

We'll be back in April with another edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" - you never know where we might end up. To see the Marriage Marks in January or the Door Counterweight in February, just click the links.

What Is It? Where Is It? (March)

Well hello! I hope everyone has survived the winter and is ready to move into warmer weather now. It was so nice out this morning, I actually ventured outside of the Visitors' Center (that's a clue) to snap this month's "What Is It? Where Is It?" entry.

So what do you think? Can you guess what the above object may be and where it might be located at Graeme Park? In February we featured the counterweight on the Visitors' Center door and in January the marriage marks in the office. Please add your guesses for March to the comments here or on the Facebook link. We'll be back next week with the answer.

What Is It? Where Is It? (February): The Door Counterweight

We kicked off last weekend with the February edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?," our monthly guessing game where readers attempt to guess what is featured in the photo and where it is located at Graeme Park, by posting the above photo. One reader guessed a fence post with a bullet in it, which was a good guess, considering we did have Revolutionary soldiers encamped here back in the day. I almost  posted the below photo for the clue, but at the last minute decided to crop it, thinking the yellow rope made it too obvious to anyone who was a regular visitor here at the park. Would you have been able to guess it if I had?

It is the counterweight on the Visitors' Center door.

 

The rope attached to the weight runs through a pulley at the top of the door frame,

and is then attached at the far side of the door so that (in theory anyway) when the door is opened, the weight pulls it back closed. I say in theory because the latch tends to get caught up and prevents the door from fully closing and the weight is not heavy enough to pull the door closed if it is opened much more than half way, but still, a pretty neat little feat of engineering that generally catches the attention of our visitors.

We'll be back some time in March for another exciting edition of "What Is It? Where Is It?" To review January's edition on the marriage marks in the barn framing, see our post here.

What Is It? Where Is It? (February)

Can you believe we're half way through February already, and if Phil was right, that means only four more weeks of winter left! Hopefully we'll get out of the snow every other day pattern soon. We're ready for our February installment of "What Is It? Where Is It?" - our monthly guessing game where you try to identify what is featured in the photograph and where it is located at Graeme Park. In January we featured the marriage marks on one of the door frames here in the Visitors' Center. Can you guess what February's picture is and where it was taken?

Please post your guesses as a comment here or on the Facebook link. We'll be back in about a week with the answer.

What Is It? Where Is It? (January): Marriage Marks

Last week we started a new monthly photo project called "What Is It? Where Is It?" As you might expect, we're asking readers to guess what we've featured in the photograph and where it is located around Graeme Park. January's "contest" (there are no prizes or anything, it's just for fun and bragging rights) featured the image above. Apparently it was a stumper as we had no responses, so let's get on with the answer, shall we?

The photograph features what are called "marriage marks" or sometimes "carpenter's marks" and they're located around the closet door in the state's Historic Preservation field office here in the Visitors' Center (sorry, it was hard to get them to all show up in the same photograph). Here's a better view of the top and left side of the frame:

And the right side of the frame, partly covered by the hinge:

Each piece is marked "VIIII" (more or less a Roman numeral system but there are regional and cultural differences in the implementation) and the marks are to help the builder match up the pieces which are specifically cut to fit with one another and not with other similar pieces. These marks are commonly found in old timber frame buildings and barns because the pieces are cut and fit on the ground and then erected (just think of putting together IKEA furniture - piece A fits with piece A, B with B, etc.). Often the marks on the main structural elements are cut on the outside of the timbers so they're covered by the barn cladding, but you will also find them upstairs on the threshing floor of our barn cut into some of the posts and beams that support the barn.

In this older method of framing, called "scribe rule," each of the joints are custom fit to one another taking into account the irregularities of the timbers. Later came the "square rule" method which involved squaring off the timbers where they joined together and using more precise measurements which therefore made the pieces interchangeable with other pieces that performed the same function.

For more discussion on scribe rule vs. square rule, see Connecticut Barns and for more on marriage marks, see Holder Bros. Timber Frames.