Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Sunday Morning in the Kitchen |
Catalog Number |
2007.22.1 |
Creator |
Vaughn, Charles A. |
Date |
ca. 1845 |
Material(s) |
Oil on board |
Dimensions |
H-29 W-35 D-1.75 inches |
Description |
This painting is entitled "Sunday Morning in the Kitchen". It is a genre painting with a domestic/kitchen scene featuring large stone fireplace at the center. There are two seated slaves. One is polishing a shoe while the other holds a male toddler dressed in white gown. There is a female child, in white gown, that sits on the floor playing with a boot. There is a third child, wearing only a white shirt, attempts to walk with the other boot on his left foot. His back is to the viewer. A family dog tugs at some fabric that is under this child's right foot. Clothing hangs on pegs from the log walls in the background. There is a round wood tub in the right foreground indicating bath time. The gilded frame appears to be original. |
Notes |
Set in Versailles, Kentucky in the home of Joseph Coleman Carter (abt. 1808) and Margaret T. Carter (abt.1809), this painting appears to communicate the family social order of the Antebellum South by depicting two household slaves caring for three white children. According to the auction house, the artist is thought to be Cincinnati portrait painter Charles A. Vaughn, known to have worked in Kentucky. In 2007 the Woodford County home depicted, with its kitchen and large stone fireplace, was said to still exist. This information came from the auction house as well. According to census records, Joseph C. Carter may have been born in Albermarle, Virginia, the son of Mary and Crenshaw Goodloe Carter. Five children are listed on the 1860 census: Daniel D. (1838-1886), Ella (1842), Marshall (1844), Dollie (1846), Josephine (1848). |
Collection |
KHS Museum Collection |
People |
Vaughn, Charles Carter, Joseph Coleman Carter, Margaret T. |
Subjects |
Painting Genre paintings Children Slaves Kitchens Log buildings Log cabins Dogs Baths African Americans Afro-Americans |
Search Terms |
Versailles (Ky.) Woodford County (Ky.) African Americans |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |