Object Notes

To "fuddle" means to make foolish by drink, and this novelty item assisted in that process. The drinker was challenged to empty the three compartments simultaneously without spilling any liquid.

During the late 17th and 18th centuries, European and English potters tried desperately to compete with imported blue and white Chinese porcelains. The use of a white tin-glaze was an effort to give the appearance of white porcelain.

Mrs. John Ashley, formerly Sarah MacDonald, wears a fashionable French gown with a short bodice and very high waistline. Her turban-like bonnet, undoubtedly imported from France, was also very stylish. Mrs.

The rocking chair is one of the few furniture forms that is uniquely American in origin. At the turn of the century, urban elites like J. Pierpont Morgan and Alfred G. Vanderbilt outfitted their camps or rural retreats with rustic furniture like this rocking chair.

This armchair embodies the hierarchy of family life in colonial British America.