TWO CENTURIES OF COSTUME IN AMERICA
MDCXX-MDCCCXX
ALICE MORSE EARLE
AUTHOR OF “SUN-DIALS AND ROSES OF YESTERDAY” “OLD TIME GARDENS,” ETC.
VOLUME I
Nineteen Hundred and Three
Madam Padishal and Child.
To George P. Brett
“An honest Stationer (or Publisher) is he, that exercizeth his Mystery (whether it be in printing, bynding or selling of Bookes) with more respect to the glory of God & the publike aduantage than to his owne Commodity & is both an ornament & a profitable member in a ciuill Commonwealth.... If he be a Printer he makes conscience to exemplefy his Coppy fayrely & truly. If he be a Booke-bynder, he is no meere Bookeseller (that is) one who selleth meerely ynck & paper bundled up together for his owne aduantage only: but he is a Chapman of Arts, of wisdome, & of much experience for a little money.... The reputation of Schollers is as deare unto him as his owne: For, he acknowledgeth that from them his Mystery had both begining and means of continuance. He heartely loues & seekes the Prosperity of his owne Corporation: Yet he would not iniure the Uniuersityes to advantage it. In a word, he is such a man that the State ought to cherish him; Schollers to loue him; good Customers to frequent his shopp; and the whole Company of Stationers to pray for him.”
—GEORGE WITHER, 1625.
CONTENTS
VOL. I
[I. APPAREL OF THE PURITAN AND PILGRIM FATHERS]
[II. DRESS OF THE NEW ENGLAND MOTHERS]
[III. ATTIRE OF VIRGINIA DAMES AND THEIR NEIGHBORS]
[IV. A VAIN PURITAN GRANDMOTHER]
[V. THE EVOLUTION OF COATS AND WAISTCOATS]
[VII. CAPS AND BEAVERS IN COLONIAL DAYS]
[IX. CLOAKS AND THEIR COUSINS]
[X. THE DRESS OF OLD-TIME CHILDREN]
[XIII. PATTENS, CLOGS, AND GOLOE-SHOES]
[XIV. BATTS AND BROAGS, BOOTS AND SHOES]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME I
Frontispiece
This fine presentation of the dress of a gentlewoman and infant child, in the middle of the seventeenth century, hung in old Plymouth homes in the Thomas and Stevenson families till it came by inheritance to the present owner, Mrs. Greely Stevenson Curtis of Boston, Mass. The artist is unknown.
Born in Dorchester, Eng., 1589. Died in Boston, Mass., 1665. He emigrated to America in 1628; became governor of the colony in 1644, and was major-general of the colonial troops. He hated Indians, the Church of Rome, and Quakers. He wears a velvet skull-cap, and a finger-ring, which is somewhat unusual; a square band; a richly fringed and embroidered glove; and a “stiletto” beard. This portrait is in the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
Born in England, 1595; died at sea, 1655. One of the founders of the Plymouth colony in 1620; and governor of that colony in 1633, 1636, 1644. This portrait is dated 1651. It is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Mass.
Born in England, 1588; died in Boston, 1649. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; admitted to the Inner Temple, 1628. Made governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. Arrived in Salem, 1630. His portrait by Van Dyck and a fine miniature exist. The latter is owned by American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. This picture is copied from a very rare engraving from the miniature, which is finer and even more thoughtful in expression than the portrait. Both have the lace-edged ruff, but the shape of the dress is indistinct.
Born in England, 1603; died in Salem, Mass., 1697. He was governor of the colony when he was ninety years old. The Labadists, who visited him, wrote: “He is an old man, quiet and grave; dressed in black silk, but not sumptuously.”
A mayor of London who came to Salem among the first settlers. The New England families of his name are all descended from him. He wears buff-coat and trooping scarf. This portrait was painted by Rembrandt.
Born in Devonshire, Eng., 1552; executed in London, 1618. A courtier, poet, historian, nobleman, soldier, explorer, and colonizer. He was the favorite of Elizabeth; the colonizer of Virginia; the hero of the Armada; the victim of King James. In this portrait he wears a slashed jerkin; a lace ruff; a broad trooping scarf with great lace shoulder-knot; a jewelled sword-belt; full, embroidered breeches; lace-edged garters, and vast shoe-roses, which combine to form a confused dress.
This print was owned by the author for many years, with the written endorsement by some unknown hand, Martin Frobisher and Son. I am glad to learn that it is from a painting by Zucchero of Raleigh and his son, and is owned at Wickham Court, in Kent, Eng., by the descendant of one of Raleigh’s companions in his explorations. The child’s dress is less fantastic than other portraits of English children of the same date.
[ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX]
From an old print. A general of Cromwell’s army.
[OLIVER CROMWELL DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT]
From an old Dutch print.
A general in Cromwell’s army. Born, 1597; died, 1668. He served in the Thirty Years’ War. This portrait is in the National Portrait Gallery.
A general in Cromwell’s army. From an old print.
[ALDERMAN ABELL AND RICHARD KILVERT]
From an old print.
Born in Derby, Eng., 1585; died at Boston, Mass., in 1652. A Puritan clergyman who settled in Boston in 1633. He drew up for the colonists, at the request of the General Court, an abstract of the laws of Moses entitled Moses His Judicials, which was of greatest influence in the formation of the laws of the colony. This portrait is owned by Robert C. Winthrop, Esq.
Born in Boston, Mass., 1683; died in Boston, Mass., 1728. A clergyman, author, and scholar. His book, Magnalia Christi Americana, an ecclesiastical history of New England, is of much value, though most trying. He took an active and now much-abhorred part in the Salem witchcraft. This portrait is owned by the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
From portraits temp. Charles I. The first is from a Van Dyck portrait of the Earl of Stanhope, and has a rich, lace-edged cuff. The second, with a graceful lawn undersleeve, is from a Van Dyck of Lucius Gary, Viscount Falkland. The third is from a painting by Mytens of the Duke of Hamilton. The fourth, by Van Dyck, is from one of Lord Villiers, Viscount Grandison.
Born, 1602; died, 1671. An English gentlewoman renowned in her day for her piety and charity.
An English lady of great piety, whose gifts to Christianize the Indians make her name appear in the early history of Massachusetts. Her black domino and frontlet are of interest. This portrait was painted about 1650.
An old print of a Quaker meeting. Probably by Marcel Lawson.
Owned by Mrs. Robert Fulton Crary of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The daughter of Edward Rawson, Secretary of State. Born in Boston in 1656; married in 1679 to an adventurer, Thomas Rumsey, who called himself Sir Thomas Hale. She died at sea, in 1692. This portrait is owned by New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Born in Plymouth, Mass., in 1641. Daughter of William Paddy; she married John Wensley of Plymouth. Their daughter Sarah married Dr. Isaac Winslow. This portrait is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Mass.
A wealthy Boston gentlewoman. This portrait was painted in the latter half of the seventeenth century. It is owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Owned by Mrs. Robert Fulton Crary, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
From a French portrait.
Born in Paris, 1615; died in 1705. Her dress has a slashed virago-sleeve and lace whisk.
Grandchild of the Earl of Arundel. Aged thirteen years. Drawn in 1646 by W. Hollar.
[COSTUMES OF ENGLISHWOMEN OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY]
Plates from Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus, or Several Habits of Englishwomen, 1640. By Wenceslaus Hollar, an engraver of much note and much performance; born at Prague, 1607; died in England, 1677. This book contains twenty-six plates illustrating women’s dress in all ranks of life with absolute fidelity.
[GERTRUDE SCHUYLER LIVINGSTONE]
Second wife and widow of Robert Livingstone. The curiously plaited widow’s cap can be seen under her hood.
Died in New York in 1730. Widow of Gerardus Beekman, who died in 1723.
Born, 1590. Daughter of George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. Painted in 1603.
Of Bohemia Manor, Maryland. Wife of a pioneer settler. From Some Colonial Mansions. Published by Henry T. Coates & Co.
Mother of Oliver Cromwell. She died at Whitehall in 1654, aged 90 years. This portrait is at Hinchinbrook, and is owned by the Earl of Sandwich. It was painted by Robert Walker. Her dress is described as “a green velvet cardinal, trimmed with gold lace.” Her hood is white satin.
Daughter of Powhatan, and wife of Mr. Thomas Rolfe. Born 1593; died 1619; aged twenty-one when this was painted. The portrait is owned by a member of the Rolfe family.
[DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHILDREN]
Painted in 1626 by Gerard Honthorst. In the original the Duke of Buckingham is also upon the canvas. He was George Villiers, the “Steenie” of James I, who was assassinated by John Felton. The duchess was the daughter of the Earl of Rutland. The little daughter was afterwards Duchess of Richmond and Lenox. The baby was George, the second Duke of Buckingham, poet, politician, courtier, the friend of Charles II. The picture is now in the National Portrait Gallery.
Worn by the infamous Mrs. Anne Turner.
Plate from Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus.
Painted in 1651. Dress dull olive; mantle bright red; pearl necklace, ear-rings and pearl bandeau in hair. The hair is curled as the hair in portraits of Queen Henrietta Maria. In Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, Mass.
[GOLD-FRINGED GLOVES OF GOVERNOR LEVERETT]
In Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
[EMBROIDERED PETTICOAT-BAND, 1750]
Bright-colored crewels on linen. Owned by the Misses Manning of Salem, Mass.
[BLUE DAMASK GOWN AND QUILTED SATIN PETTICOAT]
These were owned by Mrs. James Lovell, who was born 1735; died, 1817. Through her only daughter, Mrs. Pickard, who died in 1812, they came to her only child, Mary Pickard (Mrs. Henry Ware, Jr.), whose heirs now own them. They are in the keeping of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
This portrait is of Martin Frobisher, hero of the Armada; explorer in 1576, 1577, and 1578 for the Northwestern Passage, and discoverer of Frobisher’s Bay. He died in 1594.
This portrait is of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire. Owned by the Duke of Bedford. It shows a plain cloth doublet with double row of turreted welts at the shoulder. Horace Walpole says of this portrait, “He is quite in the style of Queen Elizabeth’s lovers; red-bearded, and not comely.”
Born, 1633. Afterwards James II of England. This scene in a tennis-court was painted about 1643.
This portrait is of George Carew, Earl of Totnes. It was painted by Zucchero, and is owned by the Earl of Verulam. He wears a rich jerkin with four laps on each side below the belt; it is embroidered in sprigs, and guarded on the seams. The sleeves are detached. He wears also a rich sword-belt and ruff.
Born in Greenwich, Eng., in 1614; died in 1659. A Puritan soldier, politician, and pamphleteer. He was fined, whipped, pilloried, tried for treason, sedition, controversy, libel. He was imprisoned in the Tower, Newgate, Tyburn, and the Castle. He was a Puritan till he turned Quaker. His sprawling boots, dangling knee-points, and silly little short doublet form a foolish dress.
Born in 1609. Died in 1672. He was a stanch Royalist. His portrait is by Jacob Huysmans, and is in the National Portrait Gallery.
[SIR THOMAS ORCHARD KNIGHT, 1646]
From an old print indorsed “S Glover ad vivum delineavit 1646.” He is in characteristic court-dress, with slashed sleeves, laced cloak, laced garters, and shoe-roses. His hair and beard are like those of Charles II.
From a broadside of 1646.
Born in Hanover, 1660. Died in Hanover, 1727. Crowned King of England in 1714. This portrait is by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and is in the National Portrait Gallery. It is remarkable for its ribbons and curious shoes.
[THREE CASSOCK SLEEVES AND A BUFF-COAT SLEEVE]
Temp. Charles I. The first sleeve is from a portrait of Lord Bedford. The second, with shoulder-knot of ribbon, was worn by Algernon Sidney; the third is from a Van Dyck portrait of Viscount Grandison; the fourth, the sleeve of a curiously slashed buff-coat worn by Sir Philip Sidney.
[HENRY BENNET, EARL OF ARLINGTON]
Born, 1618; died, 1685. From the original by Sir Peter Lely. This is asserted to be the costume chosen by Charles II in 1661 “to wear forever.”
[FIGURES FROM FUNERAL PROCESSION OF THE DUKE OF ALBEMARLE IN 1670]
These drawings of “Gentlemen,” “Earls,” “Clergymen,” “Physicians,” and “Poor Men” are by F. Sanford, Lancaster Herald, and are from his engraving of the Funeral Procession of George Monk, Duke of Albemarle.
[EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, HENRY WRIOTHESLEY.]
Born, 1573. Died in The Netherlands in 1624. He was the friend of Shakespere, and governor of the Virginia Company. This portrait is by Mierevelt.
This fine portrait is by a master’s hand. The name of the subject is unknown. The initials would indicate that he was a Bowdoin, or a Baudouine, which was the name of the original emigrant. It has been owned by the Bowdoin family until it was presented to Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., where it now hangs in the Walker Art Building.
Born, 1590; died, 1670. This portrait was painted in 1657. It is in an unusual dress, with the only double row of buttons I have seen on a portrait of that date. It also shows no hair under the close cap.
Born, Windsor, Conn., 1703. Died, Princeton, N.J., 1758. A theologian, metaphysician, missionary, author, and president of Princeton University.
Born in England, 1610; died in Salem, 1685. He came to Salem in 1638, where he was the most prominent merchant, and commanded a troop of horse, whereby he acquired his title of Captain. He is in military dress. Portrait owned by Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
[WALKING-STICK AND LACE FRILL, 1660]
These articles are in the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
Born in Leicestershire, Eng., 1601; died in Rhode Island, 1678. One of the founders of the Rhode Island Colony, and governor for many years.
Born, 1692; died, 1733, in Boston. Married, in 1718, Hannah Waldo, sister of Brigadier-general Samuel Waldo. This portrait is by Smybcrt. It is owned by his descendants, Miss Elizabeth L. Bond and Miss Catherine Harris Bond, of Cambridge, Mass.
Worn by “Bilious” Bale, who died in 1563. His square beard, coif, and citizen’s flat-cap were worn by Englishmen till 1620.
This portrait was painted before he was king of England. It is now in the National Portrait Gallery.
In doublet, with curious slashed tabs or bands at the waist, forming a roll like a woman’s farthingale. The hat, with jewelled hat-band, is of a singular and ugly shape.
[JAMES DOUGLAS, EARL OF MORTON]
His hat, band, and jerkin are unusual.
Born in Boston, Mass., in 1648. Died in England in 1721. He founded Yale College, now Yale University. This portrait is owned by Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
[THOMAS CECIL, FIRST EARL OF EXETER]
Died in 1621.
The wealthiest merchant of New Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. This portrait is owned by the New York Historical Society.
From portrait of George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. He died in 1605.
First wife of William Penn. Born, 1644; died, 1694. The original painting is on glass. Owned by the heirs of Henry Swan, Dorking, Eng.
Second wife of William Penn; from a portrait now in Blackwell Hall, County Durham, Eng.
Born, 1629; died in Paris, 1696.
From Tempest’s Cries of London.
[OPERA HOOD, OR CARDINAL, OF BLACK SILK]
It is now in Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Owned by Miss Mary Atkinson of Doylestown, Pa.
Owned by Miss Alice Browne of Salem, Mass.
Owned by Miss Alice Browne of Salem, Mass.
This fine broadcloth cloak and hood were worn by Judge Curwen. They are in perfect preservation, owing, in later years, to the excellent care given them by their present owner, Miss Bessie Curwen, of Salem, Mass., a descendant of the original owner.
From Hogarth.
From Hogarth.
Daughter of Duke of Buccleuch. Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1776.
Born, 1686. This portrait is owned by Brooks Adams, Esq., Boston, Mass.
From Andrew W. Tuer’s History of the Hornbook. This portrait has hung for two centuries in an Essex manor-house. Its date, 1661, is but nine years earlier than the portraits of the Gibbes children, and the dress is the same. The cavalier hat and cuffs are the only varying detail.
Tambour work, 1790.
Born, 1746. She married Dr. Nathaniel Coffin, of Portland, Me., and became the mother of the beautiful Martha, who married Richard C. Derby. This portrait was painted in 1755. It is owned by Mrs. Greely Stevenson Curtis of Boston, Mass.
From an old print.
[MRS. THEODORE S. SEDGWICK AND DAUGHTER.]
Mrs. Sedgwick was Pamela Dwight. This portrait was painted by Ralph Earle, and exhibits one of his peculiarities. The home of the subject of the portrait is shown through an open window, though the immediate surroundings are a room within the house. The child is Catherine M. Sedgwick, the poet. This painting is owned in Stockbridge by members of the family.
[INFANT CHILD OF FRANCIS HOPKINSON, THE SIGNER]
A drawing in crayon by the child’s father. The child carries a coral and bells.
1763. Died in 1800, aged forty. Married John Wilkes of New York. White frock and blue scarf.
Lady Temple and Governor James Bowdoin in childhood. The artist of this pleasing portrait is unknown. I think it was painted by Blackburn. It is now in the Walker Art Gallery, at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me.
Aged twelve years, daughter of Colonel James Robinson, Salem, Mass. Painted by M. Corné in 1808. Owned by the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
These are knitted upon finest wire needles, of linen thread, which had been spun, and the flax raised and prepared by the knitter.
[MRS. ELIZABETH (LUX) RUSSELL AND DAUGHTER.]
[CHRISTENING SHIRT AND MITTS OF GOVERNOR BRADFORD.]
White linen with pinched sleeves and chaney ruffles and fingertips. Owned by Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
These infant’s mitts were worn in the sixteenth century, and came to Salem with the first emigrants. Owned by Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
This has curious shirring-strings to make it fit heads of various sizes. It is home spun and woven, and the lace edging is home knit.
[REV. JOHN P. DABNEY, WHEN A CHILD IN 1806]
This portrait of a Salem minister in childhood is in jacket and trousers, with openwork collar and ruffles. It is now owned by the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.
Born, 1665. This portrait is dated 1670. It is owned by Miss Sarah B. Hager of Kendal Green, Mass.
[NANKEEN BREECHES, WITH SILVER BUTTONS. 1790]
[RALPH IZARD, WHEN A LITTLE BOY]
Born in Charleston, S. C., 1742; died in 1804. Painted in 1750. He was United States Senator 1789-1795. This debonair little figure in blue velvet, silk-embroidered waistcoat, silken hose, buckled shoes, and black hat, gold-laced, is a miniature courtier. The portrait is now owned by William E. Huger, Esq., of Charleston, S.C.
[GOVERNOR AND REVEREND GURDON SALTONSTALL]
Born in 1666; died in 1724. Governor of Connecticut, 1708-24. He was also ordained a minister of the church at New London.
Mayor of New York in 1710.
[JUDGE ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER OF NEW YORK]
[GOVERNOR DE BIENVILLE, JEAN BAPTISTE LEMOINE]
Born in Montreal, Can., 1680. Died in 1768. French Governor of Louisiana for many years. He founded New Orleans. The original is in Longeuil, Can.
Born in Boston, 1724; died in 1808. Married Rebecca Salisbury.
[REV. JOHN MARSH, HARTFORD, CONN]
Born in Braintree, Mass., 1735; died at Quincy, Mass., 1826. Second President of the United States, 1797-1801. He was a member of Congress, signer of Declaration of Independence, Commissioner to France, Ambassador to The Netherlands, Peace Commissioner to Great Britain, Minister to Court of St. James. This portrait in youth is in a wig. Throughout life he wore his hair bushed out at the ears.
Born in 1745; died in 1801. He was a son of the great Jonathan Edwards, and was President of Union College, Schenectady, 1799-1801. This portrait shows the fashion of dressing the hair when wigs and powder had been banished and the hair hung lank and long in the neck.
Born in Virginia, 1736; died in Charlotte County, Va., in 1799. An orator, patriot, and a leader in the American Revolution. He organized the Committees of Correspondence, was a member of Continental Congress, 1774, of the Virginia Convention, 1775, and was governor of Virginia for several terms. This portrait shows him in lawyer’s close wig and robe.
Died, 1732.
[JUDGE BENJAMIN LYNDE, OF SALEM AND BOSTON, MASS]
Died, 1745. Painted by Smybert.
Born, Charleston, S.C., 1739; died, 1800. He was member of Congress, governor of South Carolina, chief justice of Supreme Court. His hair is tied in cue.
[CAMPAIGN, RAMILLIES, BOB, AND PIGTAIL WIGS]
From an engraving by Copley, his only engraving.
Born in London, 1709. Came to America in 1731. Married Mary Johnson in 1736. Made Judge of the Admiralty in 1741. Died in 1751. He was the father of Francis the Signer. This portrait is believed to be by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
A Connecticut clergyman.
Born, 1754; died, 1820. A Maryland gentleman of wealth and position.
Bishop of Hereford, Eng.
Born, 1483; died, 1577, aged ninety-four years. Yeoman of the Guard and usher to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth. His beard is unique.
Worn by Alexander Ross, 1655.
Cathedral beard.
Born in London, 1527; died, 1608. An English mathematician, astrologer, physician, author, and magician. He wrote seventy-nine books, mostly on magic. His “pique-a-devant” beard might well “a man’s eye out-pike.”
[IRON AND LEATHER PATTENS, 1760]
Owned by author.
[OAK, IRON, AND LEATHER CLOGS]
In Museum of Bucks County Historical Society, Penn.
Drawing from Chopines in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. The tallest chopine had a sole about nine inches thick.
These clogs are of silk brocade, and were made to match brocade slippers. The one with pointed toe would fit the brocaded shoes of the year 1760. The other has with it a high-heeled, black satin slipper of the year 1780, to show how they were worn. They forced a curious shuffling step.
About 1780. Owned by Bucks County Historical Society.
This group, consisting of the artist, John Singleton Copley, his wife, who was formerly a young widow, Susannah Farnham; his wife’s father, Richard Clarke, a most respected Boston merchant who was wealthy until ruined by the War of the Revolution; and the four little Copley children. Elizabeth is between four and five; John Singleton, Jr., is the boy of three, who afterwards became Lord Lyndhurst; Mary is aged two, and an infant is in the grandfather’s arms. Copley was born in 1737, and must have been about thirty-seven when this was painted in 1775. It is deemed by many his masterpiece. The portrait is owned by Mr. Amory, but is now in the custody of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It is most pronounced, almost startling, in color, every tint being absolutely frank.
[WEDDING SLIPPERS AND BROCADE STRIP, 1712]
Owned by Mrs. Thomas Robinson Harris, of Scarboro on the Hudson, N.Y.
Owned by Lord Fairfax of Virginia.
A Portsmouth gentleman. This portrait is now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
They are shoe-buckles, breeches-buckles, garter-buckles, stock-buckles. Some are cut silver and gold; others are cut steel; some are paste. Some of these were owned by Dr. Edward Holyoke, of Salem, and are now owned by Miss Susan W. Osgood, of Salem, Mass.
Worn in 1760 by granddaughter of Governor Simon Bradstreet. Owned by Miss Mary S. Cleveland, of Salem, Mass. Their make and finish are curious; they have paste buckles.