Description:
Maple pestle (the mortar is missing) used with mortars for a variety of grinding chores by doctors and apothecaries, and in households for grinding materials such as spices, sugar, grains, and herbs. The pestle has a turned handle with a flat top and incised groove, and a tapered body with a rounded end. Painted in white "K665". Deerfield resident Catherine Wells Hoyt (1805-1891) donated it to the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) before it was acquired by Historic Deerfield. It is described in PVMA’s Catalogue of the Collection of Relics in Memorial Hall (1908) as in the Kitchen, number “665. Spice Mortar and Pestle. From the Old Indian House." The daughter of Quartus Wells (1764-1824) of Deerfield, Catherine Wells (1805-1891) married Henry King Hoyt in 1849; in 1863, she inherited the home lot on which Ensign John Sheldon's house (now known as the Old Indian House) stood. It was ultimately demolished in 1848.
Label Text:
Branches: A pestle’s rounded end facilitates the crushing and grinding of spices in a mortar, or rounded vessel. After being turned on the lathe, the rounded end of the head was finished by hand. This handsome and well-proportioned example has subtle flourishes like the small coved detail in the transition from the handle to the head and the delicate line precisely cut into the handle. These small details show the craftsman’s pride in this functional household item. Samuel Gaylord crafted household implements like rolling pins and peels to remove baked goods from the oven and to move large slabs of cheese.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+64.323 |
