19th Century Carving Fork- Nashville, TN

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Institution: Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS)

State: Tennessee

Object: Fork

Era: 19th Century

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This fork was discovered at Hermitage plantation, the Tennessee home of President Andrew Jackson. By 1825, Jackson owned over 80 slaves that processed cotton and maintained other parts of the property. As the plantation developed, slaves lived behind the mansion, in a series of cabins, and in the field quarters.

Four log cabins were part of the original construction (First Hermitage) before the Jacksons built the mansion (Second Hermitage). Of the four, the East Cabin served a kitchen and slave quarters between 1830s to the 1850s. Numerous kitchen-related artifacts were found including plate fragments, a possible bread box, and this two-tined fork.

Two of the tines hold the meat while a knife cuts parallel to the fork. The “third tine”, seen broken here, is a hand guard. Some people mistake carving guards as a stand or lever, but its main function is to protect your hands from a slipping knife.

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Sources:

• Noël Hume, Ivor. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated, 2001.

• Smith, Samuel D. AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE FIRST HERMITAGE. Division of Archaeology, Tennessee Department of Conservation and The Ladies Hermitage Association. 1976.

• Thomas, Brian W. “Power and Community: The Archaeology of Slavery at the Hermitage Plantation.” American Antiquity 63, no. 4 (1998): 531–51.

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