Cap

Large single continuous brimmed cap of felted black wool, lined in brown tabby weave silk. This cap is the only one in the museum collection made of felt in this style with a brim, like the knitted caps. The felt is made from wool and fur or hair (unidentified) and is quite coarse.

The cap was part of the collection of the Guildhall Museum and 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.

The silk lining in plain weave has 25 threads warp and weft per square inch. Its pale golden colour siggests it may have been white or cream, and has taken on the current tone from the earth in which it was buried.