Head Cloth
1554-1575 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Together with other bed hangings, the head cloth, hung at the head of the bed, helped keep the sleeping occupants warm. It also contributed an element of luxury and colour, as well as providing an appropriate and highly visible place to show the owners' coats of arms or initials.
Makers & Making
The reuse of luxury materials was quite common and in this case more than one original dress or furnishing fabrics have been included. Such economy suggests and that this headcloth was probably not intended for the best bed. Even the richest households would make use of 'secondhand' materials, particularly expensive ones. The cream silk damask with couched embroidery may have once formed part of a bed tester or canopy that was suspended over the top of the bed. The red brocaded silk damask evidently also had another use before it was incorporated into this headcloth.
Together with other bed hangings, the head cloth, hung at the head of the bed, helped keep the sleeping occupants warm. It also contributed an element of luxury and colour, as well as providing an appropriate and highly visible place to show the owners' coats of arms or initials.
Makers & Making
The reuse of luxury materials was quite common and in this case more than one original dress or furnishing fabrics have been included. Such economy suggests and that this headcloth was probably not intended for the best bed. Even the richest households would make use of 'secondhand' materials, particularly expensive ones. The cream silk damask with couched embroidery may have once formed part of a bed tester or canopy that was suspended over the top of the bed. The red brocaded silk damask evidently also had another use before it was incorporated into this headcloth.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Woven silk damasks, embroidered with silk and metal thread |
| Brief description | embroidered, 1554-75, English; Arms of Wentworth/Glemham |
| Physical description | Head cloth for a bed, cream and red silk damask |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
Decorative cloths were hung at the head of beds and were often decorated with coats of arms. This one is embroidered with a coat of arms and initials celebrating the marriage of Henry Wentworth and Elizabeth Glemham in 1554. The expensive red and white silks were re-used from earlier hangings.(27/03/2003) |
| Object history | Another panel in Ipswich Museum. Included in the catalogue of Embroideries from Norfolk Families, held in Norwich 1961, cat.10 |
| Summary | Object Type Together with other bed hangings, the head cloth, hung at the head of the bed, helped keep the sleeping occupants warm. It also contributed an element of luxury and colour, as well as providing an appropriate and highly visible place to show the owners' coats of arms or initials. Makers & Making The reuse of luxury materials was quite common and in this case more than one original dress or furnishing fabrics have been included. Such economy suggests and that this headcloth was probably not intended for the best bed. Even the richest households would make use of 'secondhand' materials, particularly expensive ones. The cream silk damask with couched embroidery may have once formed part of a bed tester or canopy that was suspended over the top of the bed. The red brocaded silk damask evidently also had another use before it was incorporated into this headcloth. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.235-1928 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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