Dairy Culture: Industry, Nature and Liminality in the Eighteenth- Century English Ornamental Dairy
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2008-02-01 Dairy Culture: Industry, Nature and Liminality in the Eighteenth- Century English Ornamental Dairy Ashlee Whitaker Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Art Practice Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Whitaker, Ashlee, "Dairy Culture: Industry, Nature and Liminality in the Eighteenth-Century English Ornamental Dairy" (2008). Theses and Dissertations. 1327. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1327 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. DAIRY CULTURE: INDUSTRY, NATURE AND LIMINALITY IN THE EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY ENGLISH ORNAMENTAL DAIRY by Ashlee Whitaker A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Visual Arts Brigham Young University April 2008 Copyright © 2008 Ashlee Whitaker All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT DAIRY CULTURE: INDUSTRY, NATURE AND LIMINALITY IN THE EIGHTEENTH- CENTURY ENGLISH ORNAMENTAL DAIRY Ashlee Whitaker Department of Visual Arts Master of Arts The vogue for installing dairies, often termed “fancy” or “polite” dairies, within the gardens of wealthy English estates arose during the latter half of the eighteenth century. These polite dairies were functional spaces in which aristocratic women engaged, to varying degrees, in bucolic tasks of skimming milk, churning and molding butter, and preparing crèmes. As dairy work became a mode of genteel activity, dairies were constructed and renovated in the stylish architectural modes of the day and expanded to serve as spaces of leisure and recreation. Dairies were often lavishly outfitted to create a delicate and clean atmosphere, a fancy yet functional space pleasing to elite tastes. Ornamental dairies were distinctive structures incorporated into the ideologically-laden landscape gardens of the elite. While pleasure dairies have received some scholarly insights, this study is the first to exclusively treat the fashion for pleasure dairies in terms of English culture and attitudes of the era. It explores the cultural iconology of the ornamental pleasure dairy in England and its appropriation into the landscape parks of the elite. Ornamental dairies held significant ideological associations that were heightened and nuanced by their placement within the larger symbolic space of the country estate and its garden park. Their ornate and decorative quality referenced their intentionality of being displayed and viewed. As objects within the English landscape, they were sites to be seen and from which to see—not only the landscape beyond, but also ideologies about identity, class, gender and morality, key dialogues of eighteenth-century English culture. The dairy emerges as an intriguingly ambiguous space in which morality, innocence and sensuality can be celebrated simultaneously. This thesis explicates three different readings of the English dairy in the eighteenth-century cultural imagination. Dairies were structures whose contradictory fancy/functional nature referenced contemporary attitudes about the acceptable balance between industry and idleness among the gentility. The ornamental dairy was a space whose signification was employed by women to create an acceptable realm for productive yet pleasurable activity to counter stereotypes of idleness and decadence. As structures related to the dialogue of agricultural improvement and productivity when included on estates, these dairies held signification of industry and social beneficence for gentlemen as well. Placed within a class landscape, the virtue of the dairy space came to represent the identity of the aristocracy, as well as England itself. Its class allusions notwithstanding, the dairy remained a highly feminine space. Accepted attitudes about dairy labor created a gendered site whose activities and aesthetics referenced contemporary dialogues about the nature of women—biologically, emotionally and physically. As such, these dairies and their decorative accoutrements were metaphors for the elite women who worked within. They were social constructions of femininity and the expectations and ideologies regarding women’s “natural” roles and reproductive responsibilities as mothers in society. Within a male-produced and governed landscape garden, dairies were venues in which cultural notions of propriety were enforced during a time when the roles of women were demanding reconsideration. However, even the gendered nature of the dairy had its dual significations. The ornamental dairy was a liminal space, a ritual realm that asserted female power and sexuality, as well as ideas of sanctity and chastity. The native femininity and its legacy as an intuitively feminine task also created an exclusive female space that resisted the male gaze, thus creating a dangerous space, an ambiguous space that operated outside the social norms of the time. This mystique of the dairy and its cultish practices was amplified when dairies were placed as independent structures in romantic and idyllic landscape parks. This liminal dairy realm was part of a landscape garden that was equally conflated as a site of liminality and ritual. The idealization and ornamentation of dairies within the garden space enhanced their imaginative distinction and allowed them to become spaces that were both sacred and sexual, pious and pagan. The dairy became an acceptable realm in which to enact varied notions of femininity and sexuality. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the faculty of the BYU Art History department for their support throughout the duration of this project and their excellence in teaching and mentoring. I am especially grateful for the valuable contributions and insights of my graduate committee, Professors Heather Jensen, Martha Peacock, and Mark Johnson. I am indebted to Heather Jensen for the time and energy she devoted in helping this thesis come to fruition. Additionally, I wish to express my particular gratitude to Mark Magleby, whose enthusiasm for and knowledge of eighteenth-century gardens inspired my own studies and whose insights and encouragement have been invaluable. This thesis was supported by the generous funding of the university and the Graduate Research Award, which allowed me to travel to the United Kingdom and track down priceless archival sources and visit dairy sites. Countless librarians, archivists and tour guides throughout the UK deserve my sincere thanks for their generosity and assistance. In addition, my heartfelt thanks goes to my loving parents, James and Sharon Whitaker, who have consistently supported me throughout my scholarly endeavors, and to Mariesa Whitaker for excellent proofreading and outstanding feedback. Lastly, I must thank devoted friends, most especially Cameron Engh, for hours of help in researching, writing, traveling and acquiring much-needed books and materials. To all, my thanks for believing in the scholarly potential of the pleasure dairy as much as I did. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Acknowledgments………………………………...…viii II. List of Images................................................................x III. Introduction...................................................................1 IV. Chapter One.................................................................20 V. Chapter Two.................................................................64 VI. Chapter Three...............................................................95 VII. Conclusion..................................................................142 VIII. Bibliography...............................................................148 IX. Figures........................................................................158 ix LIST OF IMAGES 1. Dairy at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire. Sanderson Miller, 1752-3. Photo by author. 2. Gothic-style dairy at Sherborne Castle, Dorsetshire. Capability Brown, 1756. Photo by author. 3. Dairy at Woburn, Henry Holland, 1794. Photo by author. 4. Dairy at Kenwood House, London , 1793. Photo by author. 5. Interior of dairy at Berrington Hall, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Henry Holland, c. 1780. 6. Wedgwood tile and dairy wares, Althorp dairy, Northamptonshire. 7. Marble fountain with relief carvings, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Photo by author. 8. Dairy at Ham House with cast-iron cow legs and tile patterns. Photo by author. 9. Chinese-style dairy at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. Henry Holland, 1794. Photo by author. 10. Interior of Chinese dairy at Woburn Abbey. Henry Holland, 1794. 11. Plan for dairy at Knowsley, Lancashire. Robert Adam, 1776-77. 12. Temple of Diana at Weston Park. James Paine, 1770. 13. Interior of greenhouse space in the Temple of Diana, Weston Park. 14. William Hogarth, Industry and Idleness, “The Two Apprentices,” Plate 1, 1747. 15. William Hogarth, Industry and Idleness, “Tom Idle at the Gallows at Tyburn,” Plate 2, 1747. 16. Joshua Reynolds, Garrick Between Comedy and Tragedy, 1760-61. Private collection. 17. Antonio Zucchi, Hercules Between Glory and the Passions, 1769. Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, London. x 18. George Romney, Emma Hart as Spinstress, 1784-85. Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, London. 19. Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Emma Hart as Ariadne, 1790. 20. Exterior