Winthrop Chandler and the rural gentry of northeastern Connecticut

Author(s)Johnson, Beverly Jean
Date Accessioned2020-05-26T12:14:23Z
Date Available2020-05-26T12:14:23Z
Publication Date1990
AbstractThis paper studies the rural elite of northeastern Connecticut and Worcester County, Massachusetts through the portraits of Winthrop Chandler. Portraiture was one way the ruling elite attempted to assert their social position through material objects. Many of the rural gentry of this area commissioned Chandler (1747-1790), a local artisan-painter from Woodstock, Connecticut, to paint their likenesses on canvas. These portraits preserve the images of a self-conscious rural gentry, whose material possessions distinguished them from elites who did not sit for portraits. ☐ To recover the material culture of the portrait sitters, I used probate inventories to document their household furnishings and compared this information to a group of inventories chosen from the highest taxpayers' lists for Woodstock, Connecticut in 1796 and 1807. These two groups of inventories suggest how the economic elite from northeastern Connecticut and nearby rural Massachusetts differed on the proper ways to convey status and power. ☐ The differences were most apparent in the quantity and types of furniture listed in the inventories. In particular, differences between the two groups were noticeable in the ownership of chairs with slip seats, tea tables, desk and bookcases, and silver. The examination of the education, occupation, military, and political backgrounds of portrait sitters and other elites suggests that the ownership of portraits and certain household furnishings was an expression of one's intellectual, professional, and social background, and not just an economic statement. Taken together this information provides the background for understanding the elite landscape of rural Connecticut and Massachusetts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.en_US
AdvisorGarrison, J. Ritchie
DegreeM.A.
ProgramUniversity of Delaware, Winterthur Program in Early American Culture
Unique Identifier1155437794
URLhttp://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/27171
PublisherUniversity of Delawareen_US
URIhttps://search.proquest.com/docview/303852616?accountid=10457
dc.subject.lcshChandler, Winthrop, 1747-1790
dc.subject.lcshSocial classes -- Connecticut -- Woodstock -- History
dc.subject.lcshMaterial culture -- Connecticut
dc.subject.lcshMaterial culture -- Massachusetts -- Worcester County
dc.subject.lcshConnecticut -- Social life and customs
dc.subject.lcshWorcester County (Mass.) -- Social life and customs
TitleWinthrop Chandler and the rural gentry of northeastern Connecticuten_US
TypeThesisen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Winthrop_Chandler_and_the_rura.pdf
Size:
3.25 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2.22 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: