Cap fragment, earflap

Earflap or cheekpiece knitted in stocking stitch in very dark brown wool, part of a 16th century knitted cap. One of four (A6335-A6338) ear flaps from caps.The yarn diameter is 1.2-1.3 mm (too degraded and dirty to tell ply and spin). Tubular knitting with decreasing stitches starting at bottom of widest point to narrowest point. Cut edge at narrow end, heavily fulled so it does not fray. 189 stitch holes at widest end of earflap. 0.4 mm diameter linen thread still in place. 8 stitches per inch.10 rows per inch. The ground yarn is the same colour as the remaining pile, suggesting it was yarn-dyed or is the natural wool colour. Width 6 7/8 inches; length 5 inches. The top edge of the earpiece has been cut, probably to remove it from its original cap.

The piece was bought from the artist (John) Seymour Lucas in 1913 and may have formed part of his set of studio costumes and props used in historical genre paintings. No further find details are known.

Workman in the early 20th century digging deep foundations for new buildings around the City of London found many pieces of clothing and textiles buried in the earth. Many are in a good state of preservation and may have been lost from wearers’ heads or discarded when they became unfashionable (from around 1570), thrown into the City ditch and cesspits. Unfortunately, because these were not formal archaeological excavations, any strata details or contextual material such as pottery that would help date the caps more closely were lost.