Preview
Creator
L.P. Hollander & Co. of Paris and Boston
Date Created
1870s-1880s
Subject
Women's costume accessories; Worn costume accessories; Headgear
Description
1870s-1880s. Blue straw capote (bonnet) made of a narrow braid sewn to itself as it coils out from center back to form the bonnet.
Wire reinforces the perimeter, which is enclosed with a deep blue velvet fabric ruched or gathered to edge the entire bonnet. More velvet swoops in folds from the bottom right of the narrow brim to the top of the head and arches to the back of the crown where it is sewn down with its raw edge hidden between the straw braid coils. Blue feathers shaped into balls or pom-poms are attached where the brim joins the crown. Blue silk ribbon is tied into a bow and sewn behind the feathers. More ribbon is incorporated into the decoration at the sides and is released to form the bonnet ties.
The brim is lined in the same blue velvet, the crown is lined with black glazed cotton finished in back with a hem forming a channel for a silk ribbon, along which the lining is gathered to an opening that reveals the milliner’s label stamped in gold on white silk at the back panel of the bonnet. Professionally made. Hand-sewn.
Extent
Depth: 6.4 cm / 2.5 in. (depth of brim)
Height: 16.5 cm / 6.5 in. (height of crown)
Depth: 6.4 cm / 2.5 in. (depth of crown)
Length: 53.3 cm / 21 in. (length of tie)
Provenance
Gift of Margaret Hamilton Ffrost and Elizabeth Rollins Ffrost. The bonnet is stamped with the label “L.P. Hollander & Co. Boston”. It is possible that the bonnet was made in or near Paris, France; however, the label lists only Boston. It was purchased in Boston, Massachusetts, and likely worn by Martha Hale Low Ffrost (1842-1925), mother of the donors, in and around Dover, New Hampshire. L.P. Hollander opened on Boylston Street in Boston in 1848, with dressmaker Maria Theresa Baldwin, wife of Louis P. Hollander, selling children’s wear. She soon added ladies wear to the business and sent her sons to Europe, particularly to the style centers of London and Paris, to bring back imported fashions. At the time Martha Ffrost purchased and wore this bonnet, L.P. Hollander was a prominent luxury fashion importer. (https://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/hollander-lp/ accessed on 2010-02-11).
Museum Number
545
Publisher
University of New Hampshire Library
Medium
Straw, velvet, silk, feathers, silk ribbon, glazed cotton, wire
Contributor
Astrida Schaeffer, photographer/curator
Date Digitized
2-7-2019
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Ffrost-Sawyer history
Keywords
Women’s garments, Accessories worn, Head, Headgear, Hats, Bonnets (hats), Capote (bonnet), 1870s, 1880s, Paris, France, Boston, Massachusetts, Dover, New Hampshire, United States, Brim, Crown (hat component), Gathers (textile process), Bows (costume accessories), Straw (plant material), Silk (textile), Velvet (fabric weave), Cotton (textile), Glazed cotton, Wire, Feathers (material), Ribbon (material), Blue (color), Black (color), Gold (color), Milliner, Label (identifying artifact), Hand-sewn, Hamilton Ffrost (donor), Rollins Ffrost (donor), Ffrost (donor), Frost (donor)
Comments
The Irma G. Bowen Historic Clothing Collection digital catalog was produced by the UNH Library Digital Collection Initiative, supported in part by a grant from the Mooseplate program and New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Additional funding provided by the E. Ruth Buxton Stephenson Memorial Fund.
Photography copyright, Astrida Schaeffer.