Candace,
I’m wondering if it is some sort of vent?
I’ve seen early grommet like hat inserts that advertised a method of keeping
your head cool, and allowing your noggin to “breathe” so to speak. I’ve also
seen a grommet with mesh placed in it for the same purpose.
I like the plume idea though…
Good luck,
Dan Schoeneberg
From:
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010
10:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: question about a 19th
century high hat/top hat
I have encountered an odd silk high hat in our collection –
we have many of these, I’ve seen many, and this one has stymied me.
First of all, it’s a very small head size. I have been
blessed with a large and generally empty skull and it would just balance on the
top of my head -. and not in a modish Isabella Blow-type style.
Therefore, I’m assuming it’s a small woman’s or man’s; maybe a young
teenage male. It has the typical curled/curved brim, everything typical –
however, it has a deliberately placed grommet or eyelet in the center of the
top of the crown. Can anyone shed light on what this was for – I can’t
imagine one would stick a plume in there, which is what I’d like to believe, as
that is kind of fun and wacky. I was thinking maybe it was a woman’s
riding hat, and veiling or netting was attached through the hole, but that
seemed weird also.
My dear volunteer wittily said it was a place for the soul
to escape (we doing funerary and ghostly things at the moment) …
Any thoughts?
Candace Perry
Curator
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