Figure 1. White Granite Ewer/Pitcher Handle. Photo courtesy of NYC Archaeological Repository: The Nan A. Rothschild Research Center
Ironstone Ewer
Rameen Gondal
Seneca Village, a nineteenth-century community of mainly African American residents, was recently excavated in 2011 where present-day Central Park is. Many artifacts were recovered and archaeologists have studied them to piece together the puzzle that was life in Seneca Village. This study focuses on an ironstone ewer found in the home of the Wilson family, an African African family who lived in Seneca Village. This study covers the rise in popularity of ironstone as a material, to the uses of ewers to promote personal hygiene and societal values. It further highlights how the perspective on cleanliness is always changing depending on the societal norms in place at that specific time, and how artifacts such as the handle of an ewer can shed light on those societal norms.