a surviving 14th century felt hat

[Tracy Justus]

A question from my husband reminded me of this hat. I poked around and the only other online photo I could find is here. I know there are some black and white photos in the article published in 1983 in Textile History and eventually I'll track down that article. I was hoping for some color photos, specifically of the decoration of the brim, taken by some visitor to the Saffron Walden Museum with a random fascination with decayed 14th century objects and a good quality digital camera. Has anyone seen other photos of this artifact, or seen the thing itself?

Thanks, Tracy

[James B.]

Interesting, there is no evidence of the crown having the silk cover also?

[AlvarGuerrero]

Thats pretty fantastic.

[Josh W]

That is pretty cool. How many other pre-1600 hats survive?

[Derian le Breton]

I think there's at least one extant pre-1600 Monmouth Cap...

-Derian.

[Karen Larsdatter]

I think there's at least one extant pre-1600 Monmouth Cap...

Yep. It's here: http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/small/item/GTJ01788/

More extant hats, in roughly chronological order:

• Extant Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking, and Medieval hats, caps, and headbands: http://nvg.org.au/article.php?story=2008032806363487
  
• Additional bibliography relating to sprang caps: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/sprangbib.html
  
• An ornate beaded cap of the Spanish prince Fernando de la Cerda: http://old.medievalbeads.com/docs/items ... anish.html
  
• An article about a linen cap attributed to St. Birgitta in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843833662?ie=UTF8&tag=suggestion-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1843833662">Medieval Clothing and Textiles 4</a>; you can see related caps at http://larsdatter.com/birgitta-caps.htm
  
• A couple of wool caps found at Herjolfsnes; see Herjolfsnes 83-86/Herjolfsnes 87, and also <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8772889357?ie=UTF8&tag=suggestion-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=8772889357">Woven into the Earth</a>
  
• A whole bunch of 16th century (mostly English) knit caps, including flat caps; you can get to them from http://larsdatter.com/knit.htm
  
• A hat in the c. 1570 pilgrim-clothing of Stephen III: http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/MI07903g11a.jpg
  
• In terms of embroidered headwear, there's coifs and nightcaps from the late 16th and early 17th centuries
  
• Another felt hat (early 17th century): http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O98558/hat/

(And lots of extant mitres, and crowns too.)

[Tracy Justus]

James- that was my thought too, but all I know about the hat is in the links I provided.

Karen- do you know about the knitted hats from the 1583 venetian shipwreck at Gnalic? this is the only pic I could find. The knitting pattern is described in Textile Conservation and Research by Mechthild Fleury-Limberg. They were knitted by starting at the brow, knitting to the edge of the brim, doubling back and knitting back to the brow, then expanding out again to the crown and decreasing to the center. Textile Conservation also discusses a similar early 16th c. flat hat with a brim with two flaps, knit in the same way and now in the Berne Historical Museum.

Tracy

[Karen Larsdatter]

I know about the Gnalic hats, but http://larsdatter.com/knit.htm has an old link to the information about them, which I'll update soon; see http://www.curiousfrau.com/diaries/50/94 for more information and a knitting pattern too.

[James B.]

Dang looks like the links are no longer working. Tracy did you ever track down an image? Do you have the full description, I recall the felt was dark blue, the brim was covered in white silk satin, and the wire edge on the brim was gold and the one of the crown was silver wire; is that all correct?

I just picked up a black felt hat hoping to make a replica of this hat.

[Peikko]

http://www.concealedgarments.org/cache/28593/

[Tracy Justus]

It looks like the website got juggled around which is why my links from a year ago no longer work, but Johann posted a working link. I could've sworn I saw a color photo of the hat from the bottom. In the black and white photo you can see that the silk cover of the crown is missing and there's a hole in the underlying felt. Through the hole you can see part of the silk lining and the conservator's support for the crown. In looking for more information I came across this post- the author wrote to the Saffron Walden curator and got a description from her:

Following your email I would like to confirm that the hat is made of felt,
non woven wool. Several surveys of the techniques and construction have
been made of this hat, the last in 2000 when an exact replica was made. The
construction is quite elaborate, the brim and crown are covered with cream
silk in a plain weave with gold thread. The underside of the brim and hat
band were woven in warp faced ivory silk. The brim was edged in pieces of
bias cut crimson satin weave with a weft of yellow silk. The item may well
have used imported silk and dates to around 1400, though its size and status
are still something of a mystery.

All the details are available in the laboratory records, the above is a
précis for your information.

Regards,

Lynn Morrison

(In a curious coincidence the woman who wrote the curator is a friend of mine. I'll ask her if she unearthed any other information about the hat.)

Edited to add: I found a discussion on the Soper Lane forum about the hat, including some comments from a silkworker who examined it in person.


Tracy

[James B.]

One thread claims the top of the crown had silk covering too but none of the others say that. I have to wonder if they would leave it uncovered.

[Tracy Justus]

1) The person claiming the crown was covered in silk is the museum curator, so I give her opinion more weight. It sounds like there have been more recent examinations than Karen Finch's in the late '70s.

2) It seems unlikely to me that a medieval craftsman would cover the brim and inside the crown with silk and leave the felt core exposed on the outside crown. The thing is tiny, though- too small for a human head. There's speculation that it was for a statue of a saint.

I shot Jennifer a note about any other info she has regarding the hat. I'll pass on what I find.

Tracy

[Tracy Justus]

James- sent you a PM. --T.