- Footsteps from the Past VII – The Wythe Kitchen. Located behind the Wythe house on the Palace Green.
- Mixed medium, original 24x30
- Giclee 16×20 prints on canvas and other related products are on display and available for purchase.
- © 2023 Suzanne E. Denion. All rights reserved.
Description
Footsteps from the Past VII depicts the ethereal figure of an enslaved cook preparing food in front of the brick fireplace in the Wythe kitchen, an outbuilding behind the Wythe house on the Palace Green. Her child waits off to the side for his meal. As mentioned previously, in notes regarding the first artwork in the Footsteps from the Past series, in the hierarchy of slave labor, cooks had a degree of authority and security not experienced by most other slaves. Indeed, hunger was often a condition for common early settlers, both free and slave. Kelly Fanto Deetz, a former cook, author, and historical archaeologist, stated that “advanced skills and literacy gave enslaved cooks a degree of autonomy that let them control the kitchen and make it a unique space they shared with the African American community.” According to Deetz, “Virginia’s enslaved cooks helped invent American cuisine."