Molded white clay figurines. The man holds a gun and is identified as a hunter or soldier, while the fashionably dressed lady has a dog at her feet.

In addition to ceramics, the multiple layers of trash and soil contained some of the most exciting, personal, and unique artifacts relating to the Washington household. For example, the archaeologists found two ceramic toy figurines that could have been the playthings of Martha Washington’s young children John (“Jacky”) and Martha Parke (“Patsy”) Custis. Finding objects relating to children’s activities is fairly rare. Unfortunately, both figures are missing their heads, possibly because they were dropped by young hands. The two figurines are made of the same white-firing clay used to make tobacco pipes, and such figures are known to have been a secondary product of artisans working in the many pipe making centers in England and the Netherlands. While only a few pipe-clay figurines have been found by archaeologists in this country, large numbers have been recovered from sites in England and Europe.

This bone comb is 2 ¼ inches long. Lice was removed with the fine-toothed side.

It is interesting to note that a substantial shipment of clothing, personal utensils, and toys intended for Jacky and Patsy was sent by a London toymaker, Unwin and Company, arriving at Mount Vernon in March 1759. According to the invoice, the items received included: “A Childs Fiddle, A Stable w’6 horses, A Coach and 6 in a box, and A Toy Whip.” In March of the following year, another shipment arrived for the Custis children, which included “3 Neat Tunbridge Toys, A Grocers Shop, A Prussian Dragoon, and a Man Smoakg.” Given the description, the last object certainly could have been made of pipe clay.

All that remains of a discarded fan are the blades carved from animal bones.

Among the objects recovered from the midden that were used by individuals in the household are a bone comb, a broken bell from a clock, wig curlers, and bone blades for a lady’s fan. While we can probably assume the fan belonged to Martha, the wig curlers did not belong to George Washington, who preferred to powder his own hair rather than wear a wig. The wig curler and fan blade fragments also attest to current personal fashions of the 18th century.

Clay tobacco pipes are particularly useful to archaeologists because they can aid in the dating of features and soil layers. The ones we found in the midden were imported from England in vast quantities, and because they were inexpensive and fragile they were considered expendable. From the South Grove Midden, 1,184 pipe bowl and stem

The many tobacco pipes found in the South Grove Midden are important for dating layers of soil.

fragments were recovered. Fortunately for archaeologists, it was common for pipe makers to stamp their initials and/or various symbols either on the stem or the bowl of their pipes and it is possible to associate specific makers with many of these marks. Knowing the maker also means knowing the years during which he produced pipes, which can provide valuable dating information.

There are two examples of a mark with the molded initials “TD” on opposite sides of the heel of the pipe and on the back of the bowl. The maker has been identified as Thomas Dormer who, along with his sons, made pipes from the mid-1750s until about 1780. The presence of his pipes in the upper layers of the midden supports the ca. 1759 TPQ of the large deposit of plaster found near the top.

Wig curlers were first rolled in damp paper, and then hair was wrapped around them. The wig was then baked to set the curls. Smaller curlers made tighter curls.