Cap, half-brimmed cap with neckflap and cheekpieces

A woollen cap with a neckflap and integral ear or cheek pieces, from the 16th century. It was knitted in the round in stocking stitch on 4 or 5 needles, then fulled (washed, beaten and felted) and napped (raising and trimming the pile) to produce a stiff, hardwearing fabric. Knitted caps were worn by men in London's business and working communities in Tudor times. They were designed to be warm and waterproof. A range of styles and qualities were available to suit the taste and pocket of the customer.

There were as many as 15-20 successive stages involved in making one cap and they are products of highly-skilled, professional workers. Bright colours such as blue or red were common, as were black and dark brown. Most of the caps are now shades of brown from long immersion in damp earth and would need dye analysis to discover their original colour.

These caps are sometimes called ‘apprentice’ or ‘statute’ caps. In 1571 a statue was passed ordering every man over the age of six, except those of high rank, to wear a knitted woollen cap made in England on Sundays and holidays.

The piece was bought from the artist (John) Seymour Lucas RA 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. 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.

Some caps were trimmed with ribbons to imitate more expensive versions in silk. Wealthy Londoners wore headgear influenced by European fashions, and the bonnets (a cloth cap) from Milan, ornamented with ostrich feather plumes, aglets (metal tags) and brooches, were much in vogue.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The cap, including crown and brims, is knitted in the round in one continuous working, using random decreases on the crown to achieve the round shape without spiral patterns of counted decreases. The fulling has made it very stiff, with no elasticity or ‘give’ at all. The feel is more like crisp felt than soft knitting. The woollen yarn has a hard twist to it, much more tightly spun than modern yarns. This gives the density of fibres that creates the very fine, dense, velvety nap remaining on some caps. Where it exists, the pile entirely obscures the knit loops underneath. The fulling can also make it difficult to determine the yarn spin direction.

The long lozenge or spearhead shaped ‘earpieces’ mostly survive separately from the caps, often with a cut at the top where it has been taken off. They were knitted separately in a tubular shape and stitched on either side of the head, as here. However, since these long side pieces cover little of the ear and more of the jaw and neck under the chin, like a scarf, cheek pieces is a more accurate description.

At the front, the inner facing has been incorrectly turned outside after excavation. The cap has no front brim, with a longer back neckflap. The left earflap has been reattached after excavation. The right earflap is still attached with the original wool whip stitches.
Yarn - S? spun, 2 ply. 8 stitches per inch.11 rows per inch. Munsell Colour Value 10YR 2/1. Weight: 267 grams. The ground yarn is the same colour as the remaining pile, suggesting it was yarn-dyed or is the natural wool colour. Width 11 inches; length 24 inches. the cheekpieces hav eth same yarn qualities, 7.75 inches long by 6 inches wide.