The Project Gutenberg eBook ofChats on CostumeThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Chats on CostumeAuthor: G. Woolliscroft RheadRelease date: September 24, 2014 [eBook #46949]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON COSTUME ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Chats on CostumeAuthor: G. Woolliscroft RheadRelease date: September 24, 2014 [eBook #46949]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Title: Chats on Costume
Author: G. Woolliscroft Rhead
Author: G. Woolliscroft Rhead
Release date: September 24, 2014 [eBook #46949]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON COSTUME ***
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
Fully Illustrated, and with Coloured Frontispieces. 5s. net
CHATS ON OLD CHINA
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
Second Edition.Revised, with many New Illustrations.
"A handsome handbook that the amateur in doubt will find useful, and the china-lover will enjoy for its illustrations, and for the author's obvious love and understanding of his subject."—St. James's Gazette.
"All lovers of china will find much entertainment in this volume."—Daily News.
"It gives in a few pithy chapters just what the beginner wants to know about the principal varieties of English ware. We can warmly commend the book to the china collector."—Pall Mall Gazette.
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
"The hints to collectors are the best and clearest we have seen; so that altogether this is a model book of its kind."—Athenæum.
"A useful and instructive volume."—Spectator.
"An abundance of illustrations completes a well-written and well-constructed history."—Daily News.
"Mr. Hayden's taste is sound and his knowledge thorough."—Scotsman.
"Should be as indispensable to collectors and lovers of antique furniture as the author's 'Chats on Old China' is to connoisseurs of old china."—Lady's Pictorial.
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS
By ARTHUR HAYDEN
(In Preparation)
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
Miss Ellen Terryas "Lady Macbeth,"By J. S. SARGENT, R.A.(Reproduced by kind permission of the Artist.)
Miss Ellen Terryas "Lady Macbeth,"By J. S. SARGENT, R.A.(Reproduced by kind permission of the Artist.)
CHATSON COSTUME
BY
G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD, R.E.
AUTHOR OF "THE TREATMENT OF DRAPERY IN ART," "THE PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN," "A HANDBOOK OF ETCHING," "STUDIES IN PLANT FORM," ETC., ETC.
WITH 117 ILLUSTRATIONS, INCLUDING 35 LINE DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR
LONDONT. FISHER UNWINADELPHI TERRACE1906
(All rights reserved.)
Needless to say the present work is far from exhausting the subject of costume, which extends, indeed, over the whole field of history. For reasons of space, neither ecclesiastical nor military costume is touched upon. The book makes no pretensions to being anything more than what its title suggests—a series of chats upon a subject which fills a considerable place in the minds of, at any rate, the larger half of the community.
While many works germane to the subject of costume have, of necessity, been here largely drawn upon in the way of quotation, there will, at the same time, be found a certain proportion of what may be described as fresh material, the result of the author's acquaintance with the subject in his individual practice as an artist. Indeed, the subject of dress is, or should be, an artistic matter; it was so in the past, and it will again, in the very near future, come to be recognised as one of the Decorative Arts, requiring artistic knowledge, and some perception of the fundamental laws of Design.
The author's thanks are particularly due to Mr. J. S. Sargent, R.A., for his kind permission to reproduce his portrait of Miss Ellen Terry.
WILLIAM, DUKE OF JULIERS AND CLEVES.By Aldegrever.
WILLIAM, DUKE OF JULIERS AND CLEVES.By Aldegrever.
PAGEPREFACE5LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS9BIBLIOGRAPHY15CHATI.A GENERAL SURVEY17II.THE TUNIC59III.THE MANTLE81IV.THE DOUBLET AND HOSE109V.THE KIRTLE OR PETTICOAT133VI.THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CRINOLINE157VII.COLLARS AND CUFFS179VIII.HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS203IX.THE DRESSING OF THE HAIR, MOUSTACHIOS, AND BEARD235X.BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET279INDEX302
Portrait of Miss Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, byJ. S. Sargent, R.A.FrontispieceHorned Head-dress: Beatrice, Countess of Arundel, 1439Title-pagePAGEDuke of Juliers and Cleves (Aldegrever)6Chat I.—A General Survey.Heading19The Comte d'Artois and Mademoiselle Clothilde21Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham23Ludovicus Rex, by Thackeray27Travelling in a Horse-litter (from a Fourteenth Century MS.)31William III.35Queen Mary39Caricature: Pig Walking upon Stilts (Harleian MS.)43Caricature: Winged Devil (Cotton MS.)43Duchess of Ancaster (after Hudson)47Damask in Silk and Gold (Saracenic)50Venetian Fabric (Thirteenth Century)51London Promenade Dress, 183655Chat II.—The Tunic.Tunic, Petticoat, and Girdle (Jutland)62Hunefer and his Wife ("Book of the Dead,"c.B.C.1370)63A Priest Burning Incense ("Book of the Dead")65Plan of the Tunic66The Tunic (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients")67Greek Figure (Ibid.)70Greek Figure (Ibid.)71Treuthe's Pilgryme atte Plow (Trinity College, Cambridge)75Anglo-Saxon Dress (Eighth Century)76Chat III.—The Mantle.Heading: The Imperial Coronation Mantle at Vienna83Plan of the Toga86The Toga (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients")87Statue of Queen Matilda at Rochester91Lord Burleigh (National Portrait Gallery)93Lodowick, Duke of Richmond and Lennox97Portion of the Picture of the Miracle of St. Bernard, Perugia99Prince Henry, eldest son of James I.103Earl of Rochester (National Portrait Gallery)105Duke of Buckingham107Chat IV.—The Doublet and Hose.Heading: Italian Cassone (Fifteenth Century)111Figure by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Perugia113Paris on Mount Ida (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients")115Anglo-Saxon Retainer (G. W. Rhead)116Knightly Pastimes: Hawking, 1575119Sir Thomas Gresham (National Portrait Gallery)121Philip II. of Spain (National Portrait Gallery)123Henry, Prince of Wales125An Exquisite (from Jacquemin)129Philippe de Vendôme131Chat V.—The Kirtle or Petticoat.The Close-fitting Jacket,temp.Edward III. (from Viollet le Duc)137A Lady of Basle (Holbein)139The Children of Charles I.143Miss Lewis145The Gamut of Love (Watteau)147Madame de Mouchy151Walking Dress, 1810152Promenade Costume, 1833154Paris Evening Dress, 1833155Chat VI.—The Rise and Fall of the Crinoline.Heading: Figure from Jacquemin159Queen Charlotte (after Gainsborough)161Queen Elizabeth163James I. and his Queen, Anne of Denmark165Festal Dress, Otaheite167Mary Queen of Scots and Darnley169"Don't be afraid, my dear!"171King and Mrs. Baddeley173The Crinoletta Disfigurans (Punch)177Chat VII.—Collars and Cuffs.Henrietta, Marquise d'Entragues182Henry IV. of France185The Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia187Son of the Painter Dirck de Vries191Charles I. in three views193Cravats199Chat VIII.—Hats, Caps, and Bonnets.Heading: Fools in a Morris Dance205Mrs. Anne Warren (after Romney)207Hunting Hat, Orcagna, Campo Santo, Pisa210Hunting Hat (Ibid.)210Figure with Long Net-caul (G. W. Rhead)212Hat, Fra Angelico, Florence213Hat (Ibid.)213Heart-shaped Head-dress216Horned Head-dress216Francis Bacon219Thomas Killigrew221The Development of the Pot Hat223Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex225Letitia Bonaparte, mother of Napoleon228Anne Day229Two of the Wigginses (Gillray)230Parisian Head-dresses for 1812231Fool's Cap of Leather, German (S.K.M.)233Chat IX.—The Dressing of the Hair, Moustachios, and Beard.Heading: Comb (Italian, Fourteenth Century)237Assyrian Bas-relief238Bearded Bacchus (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients")239Greek Head-dresses (Ibid.)241Roman Head-dresses (Ibid.)243Head-dress from Viollet le Duc (Fifteenth Century)248A Painted Face (Roxburghe Ballads)251Wig, Egyptian,B.C.1500 (British Museum)254Beau Fielding257Hyacinthe Rigaud259Ridiculous Taste; or, The Lady's Absurdity261The French Lady in London263Head-dress (from Jacquemin)264Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the Dauphin269A Reigning Monarch272Philip IV. of Spain273Chat X.—Boots, Shoes, and other Coverings for the Feet.Heading: Shoes (Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries)281Clog or Patten282Roman Sandals (Hope's "Costume of the Ancients")285Sandals of Italian Peasantry286Lords John and Bernard Stuart287Shoes, French (Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries)290Shoes, German (Sixteenth Century)291Shoes (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Musée de Cluny)293Carved Wooden Shoe, French (Seventeenth Century)294Shoe, Dutch Officer of Guards, 1662296Shoe of a Musketeer, 1697296Top Boot, Louis XIII., 1611297Top Boot, Comte de Soissons, 1628298Bravoes (Martin Schongauer)299
"You see two individuals, one dressed in fine Red, the other in coarse threadbare Blue: Red says to Blue: 'Be hanged and anatomised;' Blue hears with a shudder, and (O wonder of wonders!) marches sorrowfully to the gallows; is there noosed-up, vibrates his hour, and the surgeons dissect him, and fit his bones into a skeleton for medical purposes. How is this; or what make ye of your Nothing can act but where it is? Red has no physical hold of Blue, no clutch of him, is nowise in contact with him: neither are those ministering Sheriffs and Lord-Lieutenants and Hangmen and Tipstaves so related to commanding Red, that he can tug them hither and thither; but each stands distinct within his own skin. Nevertheless as it is spoken so it is done; the articulated Word sets all hands in action; and Rope and Improved-drop perform their work."Thinking reader, the reason seems to me twofold: First, that man is a Spirit, and bound by invisible bonds to All Men; secondly, that he wears Clothes, which are the visible emblems of that fact. Has not your Red hanging-individual a horsehair wig, squirrel-skins and a plush-gown; whereby all mortals know that he is a Judge?—Society, which the more I think of it astonishes me the more, is founded upon Cloth."Carlyle,Sartor Resartus.
"You see two individuals, one dressed in fine Red, the other in coarse threadbare Blue: Red says to Blue: 'Be hanged and anatomised;' Blue hears with a shudder, and (O wonder of wonders!) marches sorrowfully to the gallows; is there noosed-up, vibrates his hour, and the surgeons dissect him, and fit his bones into a skeleton for medical purposes. How is this; or what make ye of your Nothing can act but where it is? Red has no physical hold of Blue, no clutch of him, is nowise in contact with him: neither are those ministering Sheriffs and Lord-Lieutenants and Hangmen and Tipstaves so related to commanding Red, that he can tug them hither and thither; but each stands distinct within his own skin. Nevertheless as it is spoken so it is done; the articulated Word sets all hands in action; and Rope and Improved-drop perform their work.
"Thinking reader, the reason seems to me twofold: First, that man is a Spirit, and bound by invisible bonds to All Men; secondly, that he wears Clothes, which are the visible emblems of that fact. Has not your Red hanging-individual a horsehair wig, squirrel-skins and a plush-gown; whereby all mortals know that he is a Judge?—Society, which the more I think of it astonishes me the more, is founded upon Cloth."
Carlyle,Sartor Resartus.
CHATS ON COSTUME
IA GENERAL SURVEY
That singular clothes-philosopher, Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, whose revolutionary theories upon the subject of the "vestural tissue" first burst upon an astonished world some seventy odd years ago, has, with characteristic emphasis, drawn attention, amongst other things, to the fact that man is the only animal who is not provided with some Nature-made protection against the elements—a protection either of fur, feather, hide, or what not. Bounteous Nature, however, always kind, who never withholds a good without affording ample compensation, has endowed man with that fertile brain and cunning hand whereby he may convert hide into leather, wool of sheep into cloth, web of worm into silk, flax and cotton into linen of various kinds, and so restorethat balance of endowment without which man would be at the mercy of every wind that blew.
The uses of clothes, or costume—the words may be here taken as synonymous—may be said to be threefold: first, for decency, which was their first and apparently only use, as we may assume that in Eden the sun always shone; secondly, for comfort and protection; thirdly, for beauty and adornment.
First, then, for decency. That is sufficiently clearly established if we may accept the Mosaic account of the world's juvenescence: "And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons"; "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them."[1]This habit of observance of the decencies of life appears to be common to all nations. No people or tribe, however primitive the civilisation, but makes some sort of provision in this respect. The Veddas of Ceylon make girdles of leaves, which gives them a strangely fantastic appearance. We learn from the accounts of travellers in Central Africa that "clothing, though extremely simple, consisting of a little grass-cloth, ornaments of feathers, fur, shells, glass and metal beads, are worn, and the skin is decorated by stripes of paint or an extensive series of cicatrices." Among the aborigines of the Malay Peninsula (Sakais) "the men wear a strip of bark-cloth twisted round the waist and drawn between the legs. The women sometimes wear small cotton-cloth petticoats (sarongs) purchasedfrom the Malays, and the men occasionally adopt Chinese trousers; but in their native forests, however, none of these luxuries are indulged in."
THE COMTE D'ARTOIS AND MADEMOISELLE CLOTHILDE.
THE COMTE D'ARTOIS AND MADEMOISELLE CLOTHILDE.
Secondly, for comfort and protection. The climatic influence on dress is, and must necessarily be, considerable. This is well illustrated by the well-known fable of "The Wind and the Sun." The more boisterously the wind blows, the more closely the man enwraps himself with his cloak; the more fiercely the sun shines, the more the man divests himself of raiment;[2]but between the skins of the Laplander, fashioned by the help of a thorn or a fishbone for a needle, and the sinews of the animal for thread, and the light gossamer clothing of the countries of the East there is a vast range, the extent of which, indeed, is almost boundless. Climate not only determines the amount or degree of warmth or otherwise, but also, as in architecture, influences its character both as to form and colour. Moreover, clothes are an index to the character or temper of an individual or nation. "What meaning lies in Colour! If the Cut betoken intellect and talent, so does the Colour betoken temper and heart."[3]
CHARLES HOWARD, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM.Engraved by Thomas Cockson.
CHARLES HOWARD, EARL OF NOTTINGHAM.Engraved by Thomas Cockson.
Thirdly, for beauty and adornment—and it is with this latter aspect that this work is mainly concerned. That clothesshouldbe beautiful is an axiom which, one would think, might readily be accepted; that clotheshave beenbeautiful is a fact which cannot be denied. (It is only during the present utilitarian age that the æsthetic principle has been lost sight of.) That clothesmight againbe beautiful, without suffering any loss on the score of utility, is also unquestionable. To attempt to follow the whims and vagaries of that jade, Fashion, through all her endless diversities and constant changes, would indeed be a Herculean task, and might well appal the boldest he (or she, for that matter) who would wield pen or pencil.
The will-o'-the-wisp of Fashion is, however, a less capricious person than would appear at first sight. There is some method in her madness. Similar types, similar decorativemotifs, appear and reappear through the centuries with the regularity of the changing seasons. The veracious chronicler may therefore take some comfort from this fact; it lightens his burden, and makes his task less difficult than it would otherwise be. Moreover, dress, as in architectural form, to the careful student of decorative development, presents really less inherent variety than one would suppose; historical accuracy is the favourite bugbear of pedants, and, while appreciating to the full the great distinctiveness of such periods as the Elizabethan, the Stuart, and the Georgian, there are certain primitive forms, certain leading characteristics, which are common to most periods, and which,like the poor, are always with us. One might hazard the contention that a painter would be perfectly safe in introducing a pot-hat and a pair of trousers at practically any period of the world's history—not in conjunction, mind; no, that glorious consummation was reserved for this happy age of ours. The Greeks, however, as is well known, wore trousers. Some form of the trouser was worn by the lower classes at most periods of English history. Ben Jonson makes Peniboy junior walk in his "gowne, waistcoate, andtrouses," expecting his tailor. Nay, do we not read in the Old Testament—insomeOld Testaments, at any rate—that even Adam and Eve made themselves—ahem!—breeches? As for the pot-hat, its origin is lost in the maze of antiquity. It crops up in its various developments at all sorts of odd times and periods. A fearsome variety of it is to be seen upon the head of Jan Arnolfini in Van Eyck's picture in the National Gallery. It appears in Durer's engravings and woodcuts, woolly, hairy structures, occasionally of abnormal height. It is perhaps not generally known that it occurs in the Raphael cartoons ("Paul preaching at Athens"). One would have imagined such a singular appearance as a pot-hat, in such surroundings, to have been evident at first sight. The reason it was not so was on account of its colour (vermilion). Had it been black, one would have spotted it at once; and this fact, when one comes to consider it, is a little singular, since, if one were to march down Piccadilly some fine afternoon crowned in a vermilion pot-hat, methinks one would notaltogetherescape notice.
There is, however, still another aspect of clothes which remains to be considered,i.e., their symbolism. It has been written, "Manners maketh man." It might also be written with even a still greater degree of truth, "Clothesmaketh man," since clothes contribute so much to man's dignity. Carlyle finds it difficult to imagine a naked Duke of Windlestraw addressing a naked House of Lords, and asks, very pertinently, "Who ever saw any Lord my-lorded in tattered blanket fastened with a wooden skewer?" His King Toom-tabard (empty gown) reigning over Scotland long after the man John Baliol had gone! His quaint conceit of a suit of cast clothes, meekly bearing its honours, without haughty looks or scornful gesture, has been imitated by Thackeray in his amusing illustration of "Ludovicus Rex"—the "silent dignity" of "Rex" as represented by the suit of clothes, the forlorn appearance of Ludovicus, the magnificence of "Ludovicus Rex," all testify to the great importance and value of costume, as contrasted with the relatively trivial character of the wearer.
Who, then, shall dare to belittle the importance of costume? or to affirm that character can rise superior to its environment? Our subject is one of the most significant which can be presented to the reader's consideration. It provides one of the most curious and fascinating studies in the world.