Material tokens of Europe anchored colonists’ identity against Indische contamination

Evidence

“Of course” marks off the world from which she distinguishes herself; of those “who stay on” (the blijvers) like the Lucassen women and what she vows she will never become. The daily accoutrements of Europe continue to hold her fast and she insists she must have them. In each letter she requests something more: an egg-rack from Sack’s, “a big jar of Dr. Aufeland’s children’s powder,” “pastilles from Gerandel.” — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1517

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the reader’s interest in dress/material signals as class and racial markers, echoing the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ article territory.