LEADER 03963nam 2200625 a 450 001 9910462144903321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-06726-6 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674067264 035 $a(CKB)2670000000276638 035 $a(EBL)3301166 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000756278 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11438590 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000756278 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10750900 035 $a(PQKB)10790480 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3301166 035 $a(DE-B1597)177864 035 $a(OCoLC)835788747 035 $a(OCoLC)979910055 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674067264 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3301166 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10623020 035 $a(OCoLC)898031217 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000276638 100 $a20120316d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aMahogany$b[electronic resource] $ethe costs of luxury in early America /$fJennifer L. Anderson 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2012 215 $a1 online resource (424 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-674-04871-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $aA new species of elegance -- The gold standard of Jamaican mahogany -- Supplying the Empire -- The bitters and the sweets of trade -- Slavery in the rainforest -- Redefining mahogany in the Early Republic -- Mastering nature and the challenge of mahogany -- Democratizing mahogany and the advent of steam -- An old species of elegance. 330 $aIn the mid-eighteenth century, colonial Americans became enamored with the rich colors and silky surface of mahogany. This exotic wood, imported from the West Indies and Central America, quickly displaced local furniture woods as the height of fashion. Over the next century, consumer demand for mahogany set in motion elaborate schemes to secure the trees and transform their rough-hewn logs into exquisite objects. But beneath the polished gleam of this furniture lies a darker, hidden story of human and environmental exploitation. Mahogany traces the path of this wood through many hands, from source to sale: from the enslaved African woodcutters, including skilled "huntsmen" who located the elusive trees amidst dense rainforest, to the ship captains, merchants, and timber dealers who scrambled after the best logs, to the skilled cabinetmakers who crafted the wood, and with it the tastes and aspirations of their diverse clientele. As the trees became scarce, however, the search for new sources led to expanded slave labor, vicious competition, and intense international conflicts over this diminishing natural resource. When nineteenth-century American furniture makers turned to other materials, surviving mahogany objects were revalued as antiques evocative of the nation's past. Jennifer Anderson offers a dynamic portrait of the many players, locales, and motivations that drove the voracious quest for mahogany to adorn American parlors and dining rooms. This complex story reveals the cultural, economic, and environmental costs of America's growing self-confidence and prosperity, and how desire shaped not just people's lives but the natural world. 606 $aMahogany industry$zUnited States$xHistory$y18th century 606 $aMahogany$zUnited States$xHistory$y18th century 607 $aUnited States$xSocial life and customs$yTo 1775 607 $aUnited States$xHistory$yColonial period, ca. 1600-1775 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aMahogany industry$xHistory 615 0$aMahogany$xHistory 676 $a338.4/7674142 700 $aAnderson$b Jennifer L.$f1966-$01057380 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910462144903321 996 $aMahogany$92492619 997 $aUNINA