Browse Items (46 total)

forthcoming

Painting of an African-American steward preparing to serve dinner. Stewards were generally the highest ranking servants in the household, responsible for keeping track of the household finances and for the hiring and firing of household staff.

Painting of a lady's maid assisting her mistress with her morning beauty routine and select a dress to wear

Unidentified woman standing, wearing apron and cap of a parlourmaid, on table to her left is tea cup and pot.

legal definitions and laws regarding domestic servants in France

This editorial cartoon depicts a black coachman waiting outside in the cold for his mistress. He asks a young boy to tell his mistress that the chimney is on fire so she will come out and they can go home. The cartoon is titled "Out of Sight, Out of…

Letter to the editor from famous Victorian critic John Ruskin, arguing that in order to create better servants, employers should act worthy of being well-served--that is, they should treat their servants as they themselves would like to be treated,…

This satirical cartoon depicts the "wrong" and "right" ways to keep a girl servant. The wrong ways are all variations of allowing the maid to do whatever she wants (giving her too much free time, letting her sleep in, etc); the right way to treat a…

Painting of a lady's maid combing her lady's hair. Lady's maids were expected to know how to dress their mistresses' hair in the latest fashions as part of their daily work.

Painting of a servant washing clothes by a river as a man, who appears to be a soldier, flirts with her. It's a romanticised view of the scene.