"To a Lady of any delicacy": A visual exploration of the sway of English dining etiquette on early American identity

By Jennifer Wells Gilbert Stuart, Abigail Adams (c. 1810-1815), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. In the summer of 1784, Abigail Adams sailed for London to join her husband as the wife of the first Ambassador of the United States to Britain. In her diary, she confessed, "With the best accommodations [the voyage] will be dreadfull, to a Lady of any delicacy." She bemoaned the ship's drab lodgings and noted that her silver porringer was the only cup or ...