Cap, nightcap

Men’s linen cap with a wide turned-back brim, heavily embroidered in plaited braids of silver and silver-gilt thread, raised knots and spangles. The crown is embroidered into four shaped quarters; each quarter is decorated with coiling stems enclosing a thistle at the centre, with a pansy above and a borage flower to either side. These patterns are repeated around the brim together with honeysuckle, a bird and butterflies are perched amongst the flowers. The brim is trimmed with silver-gilt bobbin lace, hung with gold coloured spangles.

This luxurious cap would have been worn by a wealthy gentleman in the privacy of his own home. Though it is called a ‘night cap’, it would not have been worn for sleeping, but as a sort of formal loungewear. Wearing caps around the home could be a signifier of status if you had guests, as well as an expression of comfort and intimacy. The cap has been heavily embellished with precious metals and would have been very expensive. As wealthy men generally wore wigs during the day they often shaved their heads, so the caps were also practical, protecting the wearer from chills (and potentially illness) in the hours between work and sleep.