Falcon's Hood
early 17th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Falconry is the use of trained birds of prey to hunt and catch wild animals. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when hunting for sport was an important aspect of court and aristocratic life and had a significant role in the power play between rulers and subjects, falconry was considered among the highest status of all hunting pursuits.
Hoods were used both as an aid to training the birds and to keep the trained falcons quiet and still while sitting on the falconer's glove. Most hoods have a plume on top of the crown which, as well as being decorative, can be used as a handle to help in the removal of the closely-fitting hood. The equipment used for hunting provided an opportunity for extravagant display, and this example is no exception, the leather embellished with gold tooling, silk velvet and highly skilled embroidery in silver thread.
Hoods were used both as an aid to training the birds and to keep the trained falcons quiet and still while sitting on the falconer's glove. Most hoods have a plume on top of the crown which, as well as being decorative, can be used as a handle to help in the removal of the closely-fitting hood. The equipment used for hunting provided an opportunity for extravagant display, and this example is no exception, the leather embellished with gold tooling, silk velvet and highly skilled embroidery in silver thread.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Leather tooled and gilded, with applied silk velvet embroidered with silver thread, and silk and silver braids and tuft |
| Brief description | Falcon's hood made of leather, possibly made in England, early 17th century |
| Physical description | Falcon's hood made of leather panels stitched together and tooled with gold. The side panels have applied crimson silk velvet embroidered with silver thread and purl in laid and couched work with in a floral design. There is an opening at the front for the bird's beak. Two braids of crimson silk and silver thread with knots and tassels are threaded through the back of the hood. Sticking up loosely through a hole in the top of the hood is an upright tuft of crimson silk and a metal thread wound on a wooden core. The initials 'E B' are marked twice into the leather at the back of the hood, with the initial 'F' below, marked in a slightly different form. There is a round paper label inside, hand written in ink with 'lot 164 old English hawk's hood used in hawking very rare'. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by Frank Ward |
| Object history | Frank Ward was a collector of 17th century embroideries, among other works of art, which he bequeathed to the V&A. When the hood was acquired it was speculated that EB might stand for Edward Bergavenny, who was grand falconer to Queen Elizabeth I. There is no evidence to support this. |
| Production | This type of falcon's hood and method of decoration would have been similar in other European countries. The hood's English provenance suggests this as the country of origin in the first place. |
| Summary | Falconry is the use of trained birds of prey to hunt and catch wild animals. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when hunting for sport was an important aspect of court and aristocratic life and had a significant role in the power play between rulers and subjects, falconry was considered among the highest status of all hunting pursuits. Hoods were used both as an aid to training the birds and to keep the trained falcons quiet and still while sitting on the falconer's glove. Most hoods have a plume on top of the crown which, as well as being decorative, can be used as a handle to help in the removal of the closely-fitting hood. The equipment used for hunting provided an opportunity for extravagant display, and this example is no exception, the leather embellished with gold tooling, silk velvet and highly skilled embroidery in silver thread. |
| Bibliographic reference | Illustrated in The Connoisseur, Vol LXXIII, p.162 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.244-1960 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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