Posts by Kent Delord House Museum

Hi everyone and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a backgammon game from the early to mid 1800’s. This game board has an oriental motif on the exterior, and beautiful gold and red painted points on the interior. We still have the original checkers and dice for the game. Let’s explore the game of backgammon.

Backgammon is a two player game. Each player starts with fifteen playing pieces, which are small and round and look like checkers. The game pieces have many names, including draughts, stones, men, counters, pawns, discs, pips, chips, or nips. To win the game, a player must move all of their pieces off the board before their opposition. The average game of backgammon lasts for about an hour of play.

Backgammon is one of the oldest games in history. The first games of backgammon are believed to be played as far back as 3,000 BCE. The game likely originated in Mesopotamia, what is modern day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria. In 2004, one of the oldest boards was discovered in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan (Ba-low-chis-tawn) in the South Eastern part of Iran. The board is made of ebony, with checker pieces made of agate and turquoise stones. The second oldest backgammon board was discovered during a dig at a royal tomb in the historic Mesopotamian city of Ur. The Sumerians built the city of Ur in 3,800 BCE and the city thrived for over 3,000 years. The Sumerians are also credited with the creation of the wheel, the first written language called cuneiform, and the first known system of math.

Backgammon quickly spread throughout the early civilizations. People throughout China, India, Greece, Egypt, and Rome started playing backgammon, and it became immensely popular. In certain societies it was only played by the aristocracy or nobility which lead to it being nicknamed “the game of kings.” In the Middle Ages, backgammon spread throughout Europe. The first use of the name “backgammon” appears in literature in the 1600’s, but the exact origin is unclear. It may have come from the Middle English words baec, spelled b a e c, meaning “back,” and the word gamen, spelled g a m e n, meaning “game.” The famous writer of games, Edmond Hoyle, published a treatise on backgammon in 1745 with a set of rules, and even some strategy tips, that are still used to this day.

Our backgammon board is in fantastic shape retaining all of it’s original game pieces. The intricate gold work on the sides of the board are also in beautiful condition. We are so lucky to have this piece in our collections. We hope you enjoyed this look back at one of the oldest board games. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. As we are approaching Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be fun to look at a very romantic day in our home’s history, a wedding. In 1832 the family prepared for the marriage of the Delord’s only daughter, Frances. At just 18 years old, Frances was marrying a merchant named Henry Livingston Webb. They were married in the Gold Parlor room of our home, and by all accounts it was a very happy day. Let’s take a look at weddings in the 1830’s, and how they changed during the Victorian Era.

In the 1830’s weddings were still a very intimate affair. Most weddings took place in the home, and the number of attendees was limited to the size of the space. This was ubiquitous amongst the classes, from the well to do to the poor, weddings most often occurred in the family home. Church weddings started to gain popularity by the 18-teens to the 1820’s, but being married in your parents home remained popular throughout the entire 19th Century. Most weddings were held mid week, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday being the easiest days to schedule. Frances and Henry were married on a Wednesday. This was born of necessity, since most ministers and pastors were quite busy with church services on the weekends.

So, what did the bride wear for her special day? It was common for women in the early 19th Century to simply wear their best gown as their wedding dress. If their best dress was a bit too plain, women would add extra lace and trim to spruce up the gown. The color of the gown was not important. Any color was acceptable for a wedding dress. In 1840 Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, and wore a stunning white wedding gown. Illustrations from her wedding traversed the globe, and influenced fashion in a major way. Thanks to her white dress, now brides wanted to wear white on their wedding day, shunning colorful gowns. Queen Victoria’s wedding dress still influences bridal fashion to this day more than 150 years later.

Our Frances Henrietta was a bride ahead of her time. In 1832, Frances wore a white wedding dress with a blue sash around her waist. Betsey Delord (Frances’ Mother) hired a Mantua maker, or dress maker, for her daughter’s wedding attire. The wedding dress, silk flower bouquet, and leather shoes that Francis wore cost $47.19, which is the equivalent of $2,731.24 in todays money. The silk lace overdress, the satin under dress, and the fabric for the silk flower bouquet were imported from Paris. Frances’ friend Anne Moore was her bridesmaid, and Henry’s brother John Webb was his best man for their special day.

The wedding dress, bouquet, and her leather wedding shoes are very fragile and delicate artifacts in our collections. While we have a number of paintings of Frances, her actual garments can tell us so much more about her. Her dress and her slippers highlight just how slight a person she was. She was petit in every sense of the word, and that’s not something a painting can really show us. That’s what makes textile artifacts, like clothing, so important for understanding the people we study. We have a number of garments in our collections spanning a hundred years of history and fashion. Each artifact is a unique and revealing puzzle piece that tells us so much about the person who wore it. We hope you enjoyed this look back at nuptials in the 1800’s. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another Artifact Corner. Today we will be looking at a beautiful pair of Victorian Candlesticks and a glass oil lamp. The candlesticks are metal with a painted ceramic middle. Each one has a handle, making them easier to carry around the home. The oil lamp is blown glass, and has a hole in the top and a pierced slit in the side. The hole in the top is for filling the oil lamp, and the slit in the side is where a wick would be placed. While the candlesticks are designed to be portable, the oil lamp is not. These are just a couple of pieces that we have in our collections that were designed to light the home. When the home was built in 1797, they obviously did not have electricity, and lighting was essential for everyday life.

So, let’s take a look at how people have been lighting their homes throughout our history. Around 20,000 years ago we have archaeological evidence of stone oil lamps. They were shallow stone bowls carved with a small groove in the side to hold a wick. They burned animal fats in them. The fats smelled unpleasant, and the fat smoked quite a bit when burned. Overall, not an awfully pleasant way to light your home. The Romans are thought to be the inventors of the dipped candle. With a dipped taper candle, you can throw off much more light than the small stone, smokey oil lamps. In the Middle Ages, beeswax candles were the most desirable form of light, but were terribly expensive. They not only gave off a clean clear light, but the smell is very pleasant. The only people who could really afford them though were the monasteries, and the super wealthy. The average person used what was known as a rushlight. A rush light was a rush or reed soaked in melted animal fat. When it cooled and dried it could be lit and would produce a bright, albeit smokey and smelly flame. The rushlights also burned far faster than a beeswax candle, but they were cheep to make, and therefore commonly used.

In 1780 French chemist Ami Argand invented a new type of oil lamp that could produce as much as 10 candles worth of light. This style was incredibly popular, in both table top and wall mounted designs. In 1807 gas lights were coming into common use, but mostly for outdoor lighting. It wasn’t until the 1840’s that some wealthy homes had gaslights installed. Gas lighting was novel, and as it turns out incredibly dangerous. The gas lights emitted carbon monoxide, which is both odorless and colorless, and therefore incredibly hard to detect.

In 1882 Thomas Edison helped to form the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. This helped the wealthy of Manhattan have safer lighting options. It was slow to take off though, and by 1925, only half of Americans had electricity in their homes. The other half, still lighting the dark nights with lamps, candles, or gas lights.

Our home was built in late 1700’s, and the whole time it was a family home, it was lit by flame. Rooms in homes built before the use of electric light often tried to capitalize on natural light. Often they built with large windows, and many of them. They also relied on fire for heat, and fireplaces were another source of light in the evenings, so a centrally placed hearth also helped to brighten a room. These candlesticks were clearly meant to be moved around, shining a light for the person holding it. The oil lamp was likely used on a desk, or table to help someone writing a letter or maybe playing a game. We hope you enjoyed this look back and found it illuminating, pun intended. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at a pair of eye glasses. We have more than 20 pairs of eye glasses in our collections, ranging in date from the early 1800’s up to the early 20th Century. Given that all of the members of our family were all avid readers and enthusiastic letter writers, it’s not surprising they had so many pairs of glasses. Let’s explore the fascinating history of eye glasses.

People have always had vision problems, and have been searching for ways to improve that since the dawn of time. Many different cultures have realized that using certain glasses could help to magnify small things. The Roman’s noticed that glass spheres could enlarge text written on a page, and magnifying glasses became quite common in Rome. This was a very useful discovery, but meant that you had to carry this glass around with you, if you needed help reading small text. While this was a major advancement, there was obviously room for improvement. The first wearable eyeglasses were developed in Pisa, in Northern Italy, in the 1280’s or the 1290’s. Glass makers realized that they could scale down magnifying glasses and adjust the thickness of the glass to calibrate the glasses for the wearer. In 1305 a Dominican Friar named Giordano da Pisa delivered a sermon, and a line from it discusses eye glasses. He states, “It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making spectacles, which make for good vision.” This new technology allowed monks and scholars to continue their work, even as their vision changed after years of toiling over manuscripts in dim light. These early glasses perched on the wearers nose, and were made from wood, bone, or leather.

These early glasses were quite costly, and therefore the average person in the Middle Ages could not afford them, they were really reserved for the wealthy and the clergy. Over the next four hundred years, the technology changed little. The next big break through in glasses came in the 1700’s. Up until this point, eyeglasses were either hand held, or perched on the nose. This was fine if you were sitting, or staying stationary, but not practical for a person on the move. In the 1720’s sides were added to spectacles, allowing the wearer to have them on at all times. This is the first time in history that eye glasses resemble what we know them to be today. Also at this time, the glasses themselves were refined. In the past, the only classification for the “prescription” was “old” or “young.” Now, the glasses maker could change the optics of the lens. Around 1730 Edward Scarlett of Soho advertised that he ‘Grindeth all manner of Optick Glasses (and) makes spectacles after a new method, marking the Focus of the Glass upon the Frame, it being approv’d of by all the Learned in Opticks as [the] Exactest way of fitting different Eyes’.

At some point in the century, possibly as early as the 1760s, London opticians began producing split lenses. At first these lenses were for the use of artists, but they developed into the first bifocals, allowing a single spectacle frame to perform the dual functions of an aid to both reading and distance vision. The frames for glasses were also seeing a change. While wood, horn, and leather were still being used, now eye glasses were being set in steel, making them far more durable. In the 19th Century, nose spectacles, or glasses without arms, were still in use, but considered very old fashioned. Ophthalmic optician John Browning wrote in 1889 about the advances of the 19th Century. He wrote as follows;

“Invisible spectacles and folders have two advantages: they are of the lightest construction that can be made to act efficiently, and the lenses cannot come out of the frames because the frames are smaller than the lenses, rims being let into the glass, and thus rendered invisible to any one in front of those who wear them; but as they are so light they should only be of the best materials and workmanship. And here I must warn my readers against confounding these invisible spectacles and folders with the so-called ‘frameless’ spectacles and folders. As now generally made and supplied, these are a disgrace to the optician’s art. The springs, sides, and loops in these wretched things are riveted directly onto the glasses, while the glasses are frequently twice as thick on one side as they are on the other.”

Most of the glasses we have in our collection are from the 19th Century. It was an age of improvement, and attempt to correct people’s vision in a more personal way. We have many different styles and prescriptions in our collections, which is indicative of how peoples vision changed over time. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, rather than being given a single pair of glasses to last you a lifetime, you could now expect your prescription to adjust as your eyes did with age. We are so fortunate to have these great examples of a very important medical improvement to everyday life. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi everyone, and welcome to another artifact corner. Today we will be looking at two miniature portraits. These portraits are of Frank Hall’s parents, Margaret Bloodgood Hall & Nathaniel Nye Hall. Frank Hall was the husband of Fannie Delord Webb Hall, who was the last family member to live in our house. Both of these portraits are watercolor on ivory in blue velvet frames. Each of these were painted by Robert Fulton. Both of these paintings were inspected by the Frick Museum in NYC, and they made the attribution to the artist Robert Fulton. Fulton is a pretty fascinating character, with a varied career.

Let’s take a look at Robert Fulton. Fulton was born Lancaster Pennsylvania on November 14th, 1765. His family were Irish immigrants who lost their farm due to a mortgage foreclosure. At the age of eight Robert was sent to a Quaker school for his early education. He later went on to apprentice at a Jewelry makers shop in Philadelphia, painting miniature portraits on ivory for lockets. Fulton was eager to progress his portrait painting, and sought sponsorships for a trip to Europe to study abroad. Robert traveled to London in 1787, and continued to paint, but did not make much of an impression on the art scene. By 1794, he had pretty much given up at being a painter, and started expressing an interest in canals and inland waterway travel. In 1796 he wrote the Treatise on the improvement of canal navigation. He designed bridges to accommodate canal boats, and there are a few bridges in the British Isles that are based on his designs. As for his designs for canals, no one in England was interested.

In 1797 Fulton traveled to France, in an attempt to further his civil engineering career, which was going no where in England. When he arrived in France, he tried to pitch the French government on a new vehicle he had conceived of, a submarine. At the time, Britain and France were at war, and Robert thought he could sell them on his idea as a means of destroying British ships. He thought his new machine would be able to creep under British war vessels, leave a explosive charge beneath them, and then detonate them at a later time. The French government turned him down, saying that this type of warfare would be barbaric and disgraceful. Fulton pushed on and funded the building of his submarine anyway, naming it Nautilus. He conducted his trials with his new machine in the Seine River, and finally got a government contract to test his vessel on British ships. The attempt was a total flop, and his submarine was far too slow to keep up with the British ships.

In 1801, Fulton met Robert R Livingston, an American diplomat to France, and one of the drafters of the U.S. Constitution. Livingston had obtained a 20 year monopoly for steamboat navigation in New York State. The two men decided to build a prototype of Fulton’s design for a steamboat. It was a 66 foot long vessel, with an eight horse power engine, and side paddle wheels. The engine ended up breaking the hull of the original vessel, but they put the engine on another hull, and they were encouraged by the results of the new hull. Robert ordered a larger engine, 24 horse power, with a plan to build a steamboat on the Hudson River. By 1806, Fulton was back in New York, and started work on his steamboat immediately. In August of 1807, his vessel was ready for trials. The goal was to create a much faster route from New York City to Albany. Their first run traversed the 150 miles in just 32 hours. This was a huge accomplishment, as sailing vessels took an average of 4 full days to make the trip from NY to Albany. By September, Fulton began commercial trips from Albany to NYC. His vessel, which was renamed, is now referred to as The Clermont.

By 1810, Fulton had three commercial steamboats operating on two different rivers, and his boats had replaced most of the horse powered ferries in Boston, NY, and Philadelphia. As the US entered into the War of 1812 with Britain, Fulton joined a commission for the building of the Erie Canal. Britain was blockading most ports, and the US needed to be able to move goods more effectively through our huge nation, without relying on the sea. Sadly, Fulton would not see the building or completion of the Erie Canal. In February of 1815, while traveling home to NYC from Trenton NJ, Robert caught a chill. He passed away on February 24, 1815, at age 49.

It was during his nine years back in the US that our portraits were painted. Even though Fulton’s most famous for his invention of the steamboat, he never stopped painting completely. This is a miniature portrait of Mrs. Manigault Heyward, and you can see that his portraiture style is very distinct. This portrait is also a watercolor on ivory, just like ours. Both of our miniatures are in good condition, given that they are over two hundred years old. The frames, which would have been completely covered with blue velvet have seen better days. They were likely painted between 1812 to 1815, given the attire that the pair are wearing. Nathaniel served as a Lieutenant in the War of 1812, and you can tell by the epaulets on his jacket that his is serving in the military. Also, Margaret’s hair and gown are distinctive to this period. We are so lucky to have these beautiful portraits in our collection. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to our first Artifact Corner of 2021! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We are heading in to 2021 with a whole bunch of new artifacts for you to see. Today we will be looking at some beautiful Chinese porcelain that we have in our collections. This set is called Canton ware. In the 18th Century it was called “China Trade ware.” So, how did the Delord’s end up with a porcelain set from the other side of the world? Let’s explore Canton ware.

Canton ware was fired in the kilns at the Provence of Ching-Te Chen. It was then shipped via the East India Trading Company to Canton. Canton is a seaside port city, perfect for the export of goods. There were many fine painters and enameling shops in Canton. The unfinished porcelain pieces were brought there to be decorated before shipping. This lead to the porcelain pieces being called Canton ware. From this port the ware was shipped to Europe and America in the hulls of ships. Because of this, the porcelain was also called “ballast ware.” Ballast refers to a heavy material that is placed low in the vessel in order to improve it’s stability.

So, how is porcelain like this made 300 years ago? It all starts with the craftspeople. Just like any trade in the 18th and 19th century, you would start your career as an apprentice, and work your way up to becoming a master. In the workshops in China, each person did one job, and became extremely skilled at just that one job. If you were a painter of porcelain, that was your only job in the workshop, and after years of doing it, they could get to the point of painting a small bowl in less than a minute. The bowls started by being thrown on a potters wheel. There was no electricity, so the potter would sit above the wheel, and start it spinning by using a long wooden rod. This is called throwing the pot. Once the pot is formed, it will then be shaped and made uniform by another crafts person. It then has an initial firing. Then it moves on to glazing. Then to decorating, and then to a second firing. Firing the pot gives it it’s strength and durability, and the glossy texture we all recognize today.

In the 18th and 19th Century demand in America for porcelain from the East was extremely high. Members of the merchant class really desired Canton ware, and George Washington was said to be a big fan of it as well. It was very high fashion to have Canton ware, or blue and white porcelain on your dining room table. Since Henry Delord was a merchant, who operated a store, it’s probable that he imported this set for he and his wife. Henry and Betsey entertained a number of high profile people in their home. They served Thomas MacDonough after his victory at the Battle of Plattsburgh, and President James Monroe when he visited Plattsburgh. It’s amazing to think that these two important historic figures probably ate from our Canton ware! We hope you enjoyed this look into a very special assemblage of pieces in our collection. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot
www.bensound.com

Hi Everyone, and welcome back to another artifact corner. Today we are going to be looking at a very neat object. This is a fencing foil. A fencing foil is a thin, flexible blade that narrows into a blunt tip. This foil is steal with a wooden handle that’s wrapped in twine, and a steal guard. This foil is likely French, and probably early 19th century. In the past a fencing foil was used in place of a sword, to master the art swordsmanship.
So, let’s take a look at fencing. Fencing schools date back to the 11th century. The oldest surviving book of Western swordsmanship dates to around 1300. During the Renaissance, the thriving center for the fencing arts was in Italy. Italian master Fiori de’l Liberi wrote a manual for fencing or swordsmanship in the early 1400’s. This is a passage from his work, as translated by Pisani Dosssi:
“My, friend, if you want to know the practice of the weapons, bring with you all that this book teaches.
Be audacious in the attack and let your soul not be old. Have no fear in your mind; be on guard, you can make it………..
If you don’t have audacity of heart, all else is missing. Audacity, such virtue is what this art is all about.”
In the 18th Century, the Italian school was still the most highly prized in terms of education, but it’s teachings were slowly being modified upon by the French school. The French School of fencing emphasized that all actions are made with minimum force to the fencer, focusing more on the exact positioning of the body and the blade. The larger flourishing movements of the Italian school were considered superfluous, and a waste of energy. Our foil is most likely French, and comes from the time period when the French school of fencing was at its height.
Our foil is intact and in quite good condition given it’s age, and the hard life that most foils have. This piece, like all striking weapons was used, and while it did not receive the same abuse as say a sword would, it still took blows. We thank you so much for spending time with us this year, and hope you’ve enjoyed our videos. This is going to be our last video of 2020. We will be taking a break for the next two weeks for the upcoming holidays. We wish you all a wonderful Holiday season, and we will see you again in 2021! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Music: Acoustic Breeze by Benjamin Tissot, www.bensound.com