Cloak
1560-1569 (woven), 1580-1590 (altered)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A cloak was an essential component of the fashionable ensemble for a 16th-century gentleman. While most were intended as protection against the weather, those made of expensive fabrics such as silk, and richly decorated, were primarily symbols of wealth and social status. Usually worn over the right shoulder, a fine cloak allowed a young ‘gallant’ a dramatic flourish when entering or departing a room.
This example is made of silk velvet in a palmate pattern on a voided cream satin ground. It was probably crafted from another garment, possibly a petticoat. The collar, front and hem of the cloak have been decorated with applied yellow satin outlined with silk cords, in a scrolling design of stylised foliage.
This example is made of silk velvet in a palmate pattern on a voided cream satin ground. It was probably crafted from another garment, possibly a petticoat. The collar, front and hem of the cloak have been decorated with applied yellow satin outlined with silk cords, in a scrolling design of stylised foliage.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk cut velvet lined with linen with an applied border of satin, couched silk cords, edged with a silk fringe |
| Brief description | Man's cloak, 1580-90, Spanish; Crimson voided velvet, appliqued decoration, velvet woven 1560-70 |
| Physical description | Red silk cut velvet lined with yellow linen with an applied border of yellow satin, couched green and cream silk cords, edged with a red silk fringe |
| Object history | The V&A purchased the cloak 832-1904 in 1904, along with seven items of eighteenth-century dress, from the art dealers, Ernest Brown and Phillips, at the Leicester Galleries in London for £75. The dealers purchased them from James Dromgole Linton. |
| Summary | A cloak was an essential component of the fashionable ensemble for a 16th-century gentleman. While most were intended as protection against the weather, those made of expensive fabrics such as silk, and richly decorated, were primarily symbols of wealth and social status. Usually worn over the right shoulder, a fine cloak allowed a young ‘gallant’ a dramatic flourish when entering or departing a room. This example is made of silk velvet in a palmate pattern on a voided cream satin ground. It was probably crafted from another garment, possibly a petticoat. The collar, front and hem of the cloak have been decorated with applied yellow satin outlined with silk cords, in a scrolling design of stylised foliage. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 832-1904 |
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| Record created | August 25, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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