Abstract
Abstract The Welsh painter, Thomas Jones, recorded in minute detail the prices, origin, and types of food and services for each day of his family’s stay in Naples from their arrival from Rome in 1780 to their departure for England in 1783. His “Italian account book” has not been studied before in any depth, except in relation to his activities as an artist. However, this “time-capsule” of a Grand Tour household provides an extraordinarily vivid entry into the material world of urban provisioning in one of the largest cities in eighteenth-century Europe, by linking the economy of the street to wider networks of provisioning from outside of the city. It also provides a better understanding of the extent of acculturation of British residents in Italy. Space, time, and the interconnectedness between the home and the street are central themes in this material culture analysis of food on the Grand Tour.
Highlights
The Welsh artist Thomas Jones (1742-1803) began painting a view of the kitchen in his family’s apartment across from the Dogana del Sale, or Salt Custom House, in Naples on May 17, 1781: “The Subject was prosecuted and finished con Amore—when I tired of other things, I painted on my Kitchen Scene by way of Relaxation & Amusement, and I still keep this picture by me as a pleasant
The painting no longer survives but its execution and the emotional comfort which it clearly provided years later intimates the important role of his Neapolitan kitchen in the life of Thomas Jones and his family
A material culture approach to his accounts brings to life the urban context in which Jones and his family lived and ate—it resonates with the voices of the street-sellers, holding bunches of the new season’s fresh peas in their hands, it evokes the time taken to have a coffee in a café in the morning or to buy fish for dinner in the evening, and links the networks radiating from the city to its hinterland of market gardens and dairy producers
Summary
The Welsh artist Thomas Jones (1742-1803) began painting a view of the kitchen in his family’s apartment across from the Dogana del Sale, or Salt Custom House, in Naples on May 17, 1781: “The Subject was prosecuted and finished con Amore—when I tired of other things, I painted on my Kitchen Scene by way of Relaxation & Amusement, and I still keep this picture by me as a pleasant. For Jones, eating vegetables was a sign of his alimentary acculturation rather than any indication of his following of food fashions; it was determined by the urban context in which he lived Dried legumes such as chickpeas and lentils were certainly sold by general grocers in Naples but neither of them appeared in Jones’ account.[39] He regularly recorded the purchase of broad beans (fave) which were available both fresh and dried in Naples, but the fact that he bought them only from very late March to early June suggests that he only ever ate fresh broad beans.[40] There might have been no space for storing dried goods in Jones’ kitchen but there was no need. 39 The licence for “Bottegaro Pizzacarolo” (the equivalent of a grocer) includes the right to sell dried and rehydrated legumes along with other dried goods such as soap, salt, and flour in the Archivio Storico Municipale di Napoli (hereafter cited as ASMuN); ASMuN, Prima serie (1387-1805), Tribunale degli Eletti o di S.Lorenzo, Real Portolano, (1780-1806), Licenze e Matricole 1780-1806, Fasc. 26, Volumetto n. 2, f. 44v
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