Object Exercise 1

Course: History 8151 /MLA 8220–Studies In American Material Culture

Instructor: Dr. Seth C. Bruggeman

Student: Brad Lin (Lin, Yu-Hsia)

Date: 2012/09/10

Assignment: Object Analysis Method /Object Exercise 1

Object:

Waistcoat_1817

Research Goal:

Waistcoat is an object that people wear, but a waistcoat is not just an object. Finding the history behind it can allow us to unveil the story and the meaning of this waistcoat in that time. Who wears it, why wear it, and what does it represent when wearing it is the goal of researching on objects.

Object Analysis Method

1.      History :

The object was made in about 1817. After knowing the time when the object was made, we can gather the information of people’s outfit from that time and research on it. For example, to analyze whether the object was a custom used for special occasion or a common wearing for daily life. More than that, what happened in that decade and the social economies changes can also reflects the living condition and helps us to interpret the meaning of the object and giving a more vivid historical meaning to the object.

2.      Material , Design and Construction

According to the information I have right now, the object I am assigned to is a ”Black velvet waistcoat with pink silk polka dots. Button closing is accomplished with self-covered buttons. The waistcoat is entirely handmade. It goes in a straight line across the bottom of the waistcoat. The collar is formed into a curved notched lape. There are three pockets. The edge of the collar and down center front is finished with a small ribbon cording. The under part of the collar is lined with satin. The back of the waistcoat is diamond-shaped pattern sateen. The entire waistcoat is lined with leather. There are two sets of brown linen tie tapes attached to the side seem to be tied together to snug the waistcoat to the figure.” I am planning to take multiple color pictures of the waistcoat as references because the texture and the design of this waistcoat is the most important matter that defines its meaning and the story. Without the picture, readers may mistakenly confuse by the description of the object.

3. Location (where does this waistcoat origin)

  The location means the origin of the object and that can be used to analyze where the object comes from and how does it involve into the form we see. For example, if this waistcoat comes from Paris or London, and follows its owner from Europe to America than we may be concluding that this object belongs to an immigrant or a merchant. If the object is made in the US, we can use this object to analyze the manufacture level of the industry.

4. Person (who can own this waistcoat)

  This waistcoat may be possessed by a male because there are three pockets on the coat, a female outfit would not have that many pockets on it. But the “pink silk polka dots” maybe telling a different story here. What we can sure is that, the delicate fixture and assembly and details indicates this waistcoat belongs to a higher social level person. 

5. Function

 The functionality of the object can let us know the social condition of the owner during that time. After we define the function of the object, we can complete the whole outfit by taking the other object that should be wearing with it. Which means, we can build a bigger picture of the owner’s life by creating a wider view of the object?

References

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “Why We Need Things,” in Steven Lubar and W. David Kingery, eds., History from Things: Essays on Material Culture (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993).

Jules David Prown, “Mind in Matter,” Winterthur Portfolio 17 (1982): 1-19.

Joan Severa and Merrill Horswill, Costume as Material Culture,” in Dress 15 (1989).