Description:
Quilted black taffeta bonnet with a matching bevolet or neck covering and two ties (both possibly replacements), a simple brocade ribbon decoration stitched to the back of the crown, and a brown, glazed plain-weave cotton lining. A quilted bonnet such as this example would have provided warmth for the wearer during the winter. Although plain and unadorned, the black taffeta fabric attests to the wearer's financial ability to invest in fashionable, yet practical, clothing and accessories. According to records at the time the bonnet entered Historic Deerfield's collection, the bonnet was made for Betsy Merrill Allen (1786-1880), the daughter of Eliphelet Miller of Deerfield, New Hampshire; Betsy married Josiah H. Allen in Deerfield, NH, in 1816. Allen chose to have her bonnet made up by a milliner, or hat maker, using a serviceable but elegant black silk taffeta, which was most likely imported from England or France. Mrs. Bartlett Boyden was the wife of Deerfield Academy English teacher Bartlett Boyden, who taught at the school from 1928 until 1966. Probably because of the bonnet's age, and connection to Deerfield (New Hampshire, as opposed to Massachusetts), the bonnet was gifted to the museum.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Cotton; glaze (coating by location); Silk Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.552 |
