‘Trashe baguaige and many od endes’

For elites, material culture told their dynastic story and was also used to construct, or re-construct, it. Women’s place in this remains complex. They were much more likely to own and control objects like jewels, clothes, and furniture than they were land or property. They were also involved in the production, design, and purchase of these objects, and there are definably female patterns of exchange throughout society. However, the use of material culture is often considered as a collective enterprise within families like the Howards. Though many scholars maintain that a woman’s primary role was to support their husband’s family, material evidence for the Howards shows that they were able to use objects to transmit their complex accumulation of familial identities. In doing so, they also used material culture to enhance their social standing, to secure political alliance, and to cement ties of familial affection and friendship, thereby revealing an intense level of direct agency.