V282: The DeWitt Museum at Colonial Williamsburg

Today was another rainy, soggy, cold day in Colonial Williamsburg, so we checked out of our hotel and went for an inside-activity, touring the fascinating displays of 18th century furniture, arms, ceramics, folk art, and best of all, costume, textiles, and clothing accessories, at the fabulous and deceptively large DeWitt Museum.  Here are a few items I couldn’t resist taking snaps of…shoes, mostly, of course!….

Shoe, 1730-40, Acc No 1954-1024,1 .  I was really surprised at how large these shoes were, and how high the heel.  They were very sturdy, thick, but as you can see, quite elegant.

Portrait of a Gentleman, by John Wesley Jarvis, 1807.  Clearly this man is a steampunk time traveler.

1775-1785; London, England, worn in Maryland by Ringgold family member, Acc. Num: 1996-852, 1

Necklace, 1750-1775. Acc. Num: 1960-878, 1-3 . Large and stunning, with matching earrings

Stockings! You may recognize the design on the green stocking – it inspired the black/white stockings in our shop. c 1750, Acc. No. 1954-1051,1

Shoes, 1740-50, Acc. Num: 1991-557, 1-2. Fabulous shoes with a fairly moderate heel. Excellent color, too!

ca.1810 Attributed to: Jacob Eichholtz (1776-1842) Acc. No. 1963.100.6.  Of all the folkart portraits, I thought this one was the most charming

Shoes 1730-50, Acc. Num: 1952-356, 1-2.  Again, a really robust, high heel, at least as high as 2.5 inches, maybe even 3 inches.

Historical Dog was caught nomming a bunny.  I managed to take a photo of this object without noting what it was…too distracted by the dog.  I knew she had to be hiding in the DeWitt palace of Georgian treasure somewhere…

Shoes, 1740-50, Acc. Num: 2008-139, 1-2

A stoneware plate I found humorous.

Now, of course, you can go see much better photos of all of these things on the DeWitt museum website here: http://www.history.org/history/museums/dewitt_gallery.cfm and specfically the textile/accessories here: http://www.history.org/history/museums/clothingexhibit/museum_explore.cfm