Cap

A woollen cap with two overlapping half brims 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 analysis of the dyes to discover their original colour.

The piece was bought by the London Museum in 1924 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 because they were found in waterlogged conditions. They 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, no records were kept of exactly where it was found or whether any other objects were found with it.

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.

Some caps, like this one, 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.

A length of silk ribbon is threaded vertically through four holes on the top of one of the brims, presumably the front. There was formerly silk ribbon at the other side but this has been removed. A brass oval headed pin 43 mm long, 2 mm wide sits in th ecentre. The surviving ribbon is in form of two vertical lines running perpendicular to the brim's edge. There are holes for same ribbon arrangement in the centre (now holding the pin) and at the other side. Ribbon is made of tabby silk, about 25 mm wide and compressed by its threading. It is a pale khaki colour and may have been dyed a different shade originally.

Yarn - S spun, 2 ply. Yarn diameter 1.5 mm. 17 stitches per 50 mm and 12 rows per 50 mm. Munsell Colour Value 10YR 3/2 (very dark greyish brown). Weight: 167 grams.
The turned-up internal edges of the cap have been cut and may have been a full knitted lining. Facing edge has 7 stitches per 50 mm. The ground yarn is paler than the pile, suggesting the cap was dyed after construction. Average width of crown 250 mm; circumference 535 mm; brim width 40 mm; overbrim width 45 mm.