Coif
1590-1610 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This coif is decorated in a technique known as cutwork, where threads of the woven linen are cut and removed, and the remaining threads embroidered over to create open, lace-like patterns. The cutwork is further embellished with silver-gilt thread.
Until the end of the 17th century the coif was informal headwear for women. Plain linen versions were worn by the working-class. Middle-class and aristocratic women wore elaborately decorated coifs. It would have been worn by itself indoors, or with a hat on top in public. In Western Europe it was customary for both men and women to cover their heads in public up until the 1960s. A hat was an essential part of respectable dress and, from a health perspective, head coverings were considered necessary to protect against chills and disease.
Until the end of the 17th century the coif was informal headwear for women. Plain linen versions were worn by the working-class. Middle-class and aristocratic women wore elaborately decorated coifs. It would have been worn by itself indoors, or with a hat on top in public. In Western Europe it was customary for both men and women to cover their heads in public up until the 1960s. A hat was an essential part of respectable dress and, from a health perspective, head coverings were considered necessary to protect against chills and disease.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Linen, linen thread, silver-gilt thread; hand-sewn and hand-embroidered |
| Brief description | Woman's coif of linen, 1590-1610, British; embroidered with silver-gilt thread and cutwork |
| Physical description | A linen coif with repeating pattern of roses and eglantine. The outlines of the flowers and stems are worked with silver-gilt thread in chain stitch. The centres of the flowers are decorated with drawn-thread and pulled fabric work with needlepoint fillings. The outline of the coif is embroidered with silver-gilt thread in chain stitch. There is a casing at the bottom and the coif has cheek-pieces and a widow's peak. The front edges are embroidered with silver-gilt thread in plaited braid stitch. The top seam and crown gathers have been unpicked at a later date. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This coif is decorated in a technique known as cutwork, where threads of the woven linen are cut and removed, and the remaining threads embroidered over to create open, lace-like patterns. The cutwork is further embellished with silver-gilt thread. Until the end of the 17th century the coif was informal headwear for women. Plain linen versions were worn by the working-class. Middle-class and aristocratic women wore elaborately decorated coifs. It would have been worn by itself indoors, or with a hat on top in public. In Western Europe it was customary for both men and women to cover their heads in public up until the 1960s. A hat was an essential part of respectable dress and, from a health perspective, head coverings were considered necessary to protect against chills and disease. |
| Bibliographic reference | John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, p.84, plate LXII |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.98-1925 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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