Hat

Note from Kay Staniland, March 1988: Hats of this type became fashionable wear in the late C18 but very few are known to have survived. Its discovery came about during the course of work on removing the roofing to the Lantern which surmounts the Great Room of the Royal Academy in Somerset House. The roof was completed in 1780 and it has been suggested that the hat was left behind by a workman on the site. A more likely explanation, however, is the ancient and very prevalent tradition of concealing articles of clothing (shoes are particularly common) in newly-completed buildings as talismans for good luck or to ward off evil spirits. Quantities of cat hairs inside the hat suggest feline occupation, perhaps before the roof was finally completed.