Abstract

This essay looks at domestic objects inscribed with dates in early modern England. It investigates how time was perceived and experienced by women through the inscription of these objects. Two case studies of dated objects provide the focus for discussion. The first looks at wares used in the everyday running of the household, and considers their meaning in relation to the cyclical rhythms of daily life. The second considers samplers inscribed with personal information including dates and ages, arguing that such objects demonstrate the significance of dates in marking and extending social connections between women. Overall, the essay aims to show the opportunity dated wares present to analyze the connection between women, time, and material culture.

Keywords: materiality; dates; cycles; duration; kitchenware; embroidery A tin-glazed earthenware mug in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum poses an interesting puzzle about the position of women in time in seventeenth-century England (Figure 2.1). In many ways, it is an unremarkable piece of ceramic. Made in one of the London potteries that lined the river in Southwark, likely Montague Close, Pickleherring, or Rotherhithe, it holds about half a pint of liquid, and was likely to have been intended for strong beer. The decoration on the mug is not unusual, with grotesques painted in shades of blue, green, and brown, and an inscription around the rim records the name of the owner in fairly typical blue with white background. Yet it is precisely this inscription, reading ‘ANN CHAPMAN ANNO 1642’, which makes this object so interesting. Through the inscription a clear connection is made between a woman, Ann Chapman, and a point in time, the year 1642. Yet the rest of the decoration bears no temporal messages, and no documentary evidence is known to provide further explanation. Thus, faced with the uncertainty of the meaning of this connection between Ann and the year 1642, the catalogue entry for the mug concludes that ‘its primary role was probably a commemorative piece for display’.