Headdress connundrum
I'm trying to figure out the construction of a French middle class head-dress, quite common in the second half of 16th century, although I have seen an example in a drawing from a first half-century. It is always black and has a weird flat top, squared at the front and usually has a black fall/veil at the back.
Any ideas would be very much appreciated.
Here are some pics:
From Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 1975. See how in the first image there appears to be no fall/veil at the back, but all the others have one.
Engraving of a French middle-class woman in François Deserps' book, published in 1567
The earliest example I have is from a 1532 engraving in Illustrations de Flammette (first picture), however, the mural painting in Tracadero (second picture), also shows a similar head-dress and is of an unknown date, but the lady's dress looks very much like first half of 16th century to me.
The third picture is a miniature of Marguerite de Navarre giving a copy of her book "Le débat d'amour" to one of her ladies - Anne de Pisseleu. In the left corner of the miniature are two ladies and one of them is wearing what looks suspiciously like the flat top headdress.
The year of the painting is unknown, but the book the subject of the painting was produced in 1540/1541.
From those early examples, I wonder whether the head-dress is an evolution on the early form of the French hood. Constructing multiple layers to the veil/fall part and then pinning one of them to the top of the head, a bit like an Elizabethan hood with a bongrace.
There is a detailed engraving/woodcut, said to be at the National Library, reproduced in Le Costume Civil en France (page 123), which suggests that this is how the headdress is constructed. But I'm not sure when the engraving was made (the book doesn't say), so it may be just someone's later supposition of what the headdress looked like
Any ideas anyone?
EDIT: I'm now thinking it is a very long bongrace, arranged like this:
That would give it a fall at the back and a square edge at the front. It would be pinned at the top and would probably need something to stiffen it where the front edge is to make it sit flat (using thick fabric for the whole veil would make it very heavy I think).
Any ideas would be very much appreciated.
Here are some pics:
From Civitates Orbis Terrarum, 1975. See how in the first image there appears to be no fall/veil at the back, but all the others have one.
Engraving of a French middle-class woman in François Deserps' book, published in 1567
The earliest example I have is from a 1532 engraving in Illustrations de Flammette (first picture), however, the mural painting in Tracadero (second picture), also shows a similar head-dress and is of an unknown date, but the lady's dress looks very much like first half of 16th century to me.
The third picture is a miniature of Marguerite de Navarre giving a copy of her book "Le débat d'amour" to one of her ladies - Anne de Pisseleu. In the left corner of the miniature are two ladies and one of them is wearing what looks suspiciously like the flat top headdress.
The year of the painting is unknown, but the book the subject of the painting was produced in 1540/1541.
From those early examples, I wonder whether the head-dress is an evolution on the early form of the French hood. Constructing multiple layers to the veil/fall part and then pinning one of them to the top of the head, a bit like an Elizabethan hood with a bongrace.
There is a detailed engraving/woodcut, said to be at the National Library, reproduced in Le Costume Civil en France (page 123), which suggests that this is how the headdress is constructed. But I'm not sure when the engraving was made (the book doesn't say), so it may be just someone's later supposition of what the headdress looked like
Any ideas anyone?
EDIT: I'm now thinking it is a very long bongrace, arranged like this:
That would give it a fall at the back and a square edge at the front. It would be pinned at the top and would probably need something to stiffen it where the front edge is to make it sit flat (using thick fabric for the whole veil would make it very heavy I think).