is one of the most striking features of the domestic economy of that age; it was true of the tablecloths; it was still more true of the table napkins, the need for which was greater in those times than in the present on account of the rarity of the fork. The napkin was made of damask, canvas, lockram, oznaburg, holland, dowlas, diaper, huckaback, and Virginian cloth. That of canvas was of the most inferior texture. Costly as the purchase of damask napkins must have been, it is found that Mrs. Elizabeth Digges left thirty-six of this material. Napkins of the finest quality were often worked in figures. The press in which these articles were stored was one of the most familiar pieces of furniture in the homes of the planters of the seventeenth century.[1]
The plates in use were made, some of earthen ware, some of wooden, but the greatest number were of pewter. Pewter plates had the advantage not only of cheapness but also of durability, in which respect they were superior to the earthen and wooden. References are also found to trenchers, which were pieces of board.[2] There were certain varieties of plates used for special purposes, as the pie-plate and the fish-plate. Many had been finely painted.[3] The dishes also were generally made of pewter, some weighing as much as five pounds apiece, and being either deep or broad. Besides the ordinary dish, there was the chafing, the butter, and the magazine dish. There are few references to the fork in the inventories of the seventeenth century;
- ↑ The furniture in the dining-room of Robert Beverley, Sr., one of the wealthiest men in the Colony, consisted of an oval and a folding table, a small table and a leather couch, two chests, a chest of drawers and fifteen Russian leather chairs, the whole valued at £9 9s. See inventory on file among Records of Middlesex County. The contents of the whole house were appraised at £207 19s. 6d.
- ↑ Rogers’ History of Agriculture and Prices in England, vol. V, p. 685.
- ↑ Records of Middlesex County, original vol. 1698-1713, p. 71.
