Four centuries ago, Boston’s first residents found themselves at the intersection between colonial and European culture. In his new book “Inventing Boston: Design, Production, and Consumption, 1680-1720,” Yale Professor Edward Cooke breaks down how the materials of Boston – from bricks to textiles to gravestones – reflect the eclectic nature of its early inhabitants. Cooke joined WGBH News’ Henry Santoro of Henry in the Hub to discuss Boston's craftsmanship, history and early identity. This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Henry Santoro: You’ve spent some quality time here in Boston. You wrote your dissertation at Boston University. You were a curator of American decorative arts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for seven years, from the ’80s into the early ’90s. Let me ask you this: Do you look at a piece of furniture the way that someone looks at a work of art? Or do you look at a piece of furniture as a piece of craftsmanship?
Edward Cooke: A little bit like a piece of art, but oftentimes very differently. Because I actually tend to start with the inside, rather than what’s on the surface, when I’m thinking about an object. Because oftentimes I think that there are a lot of telltale signs of human activity on the inside of the preparation of wood or metal or fiber, and then it sort of builds from a microstructure out. And so engagement with the formal aspects is only one piece of that entire puzzle.
Santoro: The book focuses on the basic elements of craftsmanship, and that's how the chapters are broken down.
Cooke: By material, yeah.
Santoro: Brick, slate, wood, textile, ceramic and silver — all things that can be seen in Boston. But do you see that history fading away as Boston still continues to evolve?
Cooke: I think Boston holds onto it. Textiles are a harder thing, and that's where you have to really look hard. And places such as Historic New England, a lot of the historical societies, and even the Museum of Fine Arts have small bits of textiles that have survived.
Santoro: Yeah, they’ve been keeping it alive.
Cooke: And that's one place. But there are places where you continue to see this evidence — like the Hancock House, which is right behind the Union Oyster House. It's this wonderful 1762 structure that's still there, but you can sort of stumble on it because it's down an alley.
Santoro: What do you see as the key differences between the colonies and the European arm of the British Empire as Boston was really beginning to take shape?
Cooke: To me, what makes Boston so interesting is that they were able to work within a British Empire that was just evolving with the Navigation Acts and some of these other elements. But the Boston merchants and sea captains were navigating their own world. And to me what’s most intriguing is that they developed this whole sense of Boston-ness. They knew they were part of the British system, but they were also independent within it.
Santoro: Do you have a favorite spot in Boston, one that you'd be willing to share, where someone could go and see exactly what this place is all about?
Cooke: I think one place is at the foot of the Boston State House, looking down to where Long Wharf would have been and imagining what the view would have been when the wharf went from King Street down to the harbor when the wharf was built in 1711. I think in terms of objects, obviously it's hard to beat the MFA with their collections of silver and furniture from this period.
