Plate Warmer

ACHA1948.1Overall3.jpg

Title

Plate Warmer

Title

c. 1885 Duparquet & Huot Plate Warmer: an original, key artifact centered in the Ten Broeck Mansion's butler's pantry; the piece is fundamental to the interpretation of servants' lives in one of the most important exhibit spaces in the Ten Broeck Mansion.

Creator

Duparquet & Huot

Provenance Information

1948.1

Date Created

c.1885

Format

plate warmer

REDC Region

Notes

The c.1885 Duparquet & Huot plate warmer, still in its original location in the Ten Broeck Mansion's butler's pantry, illuminates the ACHA’s mission to present the stories of the rich and diverse history and culture of Albany County. The Plate Warmer is the focal point of the Ten Broeck Mansion’s butler’s pantry, the key exhibit space used to interpret the lives of servants, including those originally born into slavery. The piece illuminates the lives of African American, Irish, and German servants in 19th c. Albany. The plate warmer visually draws the attention of visitors with its prominent location and allows interpretive staff to share advice from African American authors such as Robert Roberts, whose House Servant’s Directory (1827) formed a basis for household management in the North. The piece also speaks to the importance of ways to ensure the best possible presentation of servants’ work to the Olcott family. The Olcott’s household staff served under the supervision of Roseanna Vosburgh, who was born into slavery in Columbia County NY, baptized into the African Baptist Church at age 21, and then became the Olcott family’s paid household manager for 63 years, supervising a staff of Irish, English, and German servants. Vosburgh was also a founder of a precursor to the Underground Railroad and set up a philanthropic trust for African American widows upon her death. An abolitionist, philanthropist, and manager, Roseanna Vosburgh is at the heart of our interpretation of this fascinating and complex space in the Ten Broeck Mansion, admired by visitors. The stories within this space help illuminate the lives of those who built Albany, New York.

The c.1885 plate warmer, still in its original location in the Ten Broeck Mansion's Butler's Pantry, references late 18th-early 19th c. plate warmers, which included japanning, both a decorative finish and a way to preserve sheet metal from corrosion. The applied cast metal decorations likely reference an 18th-early 19th c. tradition of hand-painted gold ornamentation. The piece represents a merging of post-Civil War mechanized improvements in the home with this earlier decorative tradition of Regency-era fireplace plate warmers. As a top-of-the-line piece from the New York City-based firm Duparquet & Huot, it reflects the industry and innovation of New York State, the wealth of the Olcotts (prominent Albany bankers), and the importance of presenting the culinary efforts of skilled servants in the best possible way, ensuring all those dining had warm food in unevenly heated houses.

A prominent NY firm, Duparquet & Huot supplied custom equipment to the Goulds and Vanderbilts. This piece speaks to the understated wealth of the Olcotts - a rare surviving glimpse of the high-quality goods used in their home. Used daily by the African American, Irish, and German servants at the Ten Broeck Mansion, it was a far easier and more sanitary way to warm plates. In earlier fireplace-heated versions, servants sometimes had to carry entire plate warmers up and down stairs since they blocked the warmth of the dining room fireplace otherwise. The piece is exhibited with an image of Roseanna Vosburgh, an abolitionist, and the Olcott's African American household manager for 63 years.

Citation

“Plate Warmer,” Flipping The Narrative, accessed February 10, 2025, https://flippingthenarrative.omeka.net/items/show/2.

Geolocation