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Thesis
"Our Little Society, Endeavoured to Be as Sociable as Possible": Civilian Women and Ceramic Vessels in British Pensacola
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Qualitative minimum number of vessels (MNV) analysis views sherds as a whole vessel, the way people in the past used them. This thesis used qualitative MNV analysis on ceramic table and teaware sherds from British Barkley House/Parcel (8ES119/8ES2952) and Plaza Ferdinand (8ES981) features. Both sites are located in downtown Pensacola, Florida, and are the most extensively excavated civilian sites associated with the British period in Pensacola, 1763–1781. The MNV analysis results were used to learn about civilian women’s lives in British Pensacola. Vessel results were combined with historical documents, such as Elizabeth Digby Pilot’s memoir, and compared to British sociocultural dining and food practices. This research revealed the importance of ceramic table and teaware to how women viewed themselves and their society in a new colonial capital. This thesis found that women used table and teaware in a similar manner to others in the British Empire. Women at the Barkley House/Parcel and Plaza Ferdinand invested money in individually purchased, expensive teaware vessels rather than more expensive tableware, and used this fashionable teaware to construct their identity and to perform British gentility. Tableware vessels were found to mostly be a less expensive ware type, but women purchased specialized function vessels. These vessels revealed women in British Pensacola’s strategic purchase of specific vessels, intimate knowledge of British dining customs, and practice of the customs in a new colonial capital.
Details
- Title
- "Our Little Society, Endeavoured to Be as Sociable as Possible"
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Della Scott-Ireton (Advisor)William Lees (Committee Member)Amy Mitchell-Cook (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 161
- Copyright
- Permission granted to the University of West Florida Libraries to digitize and/or display this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires the permission of the copyright holder.
- Identifiers
- 99380178696706600
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida