Cap
Unknown Artist
late 19th century
Medium
linen, metal, silk
Dimensions
8 1/2 x 17 in. (21.6 x 43.2 cm)
Classification
Accessory-Headwear-Womenswear
Culture
Slovak
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Museum Expedition 1920 & 1921, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 1921
Accession Number
2009.300.2285
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate cap, crafted by an unknown Slovak artist in the late 19th, offers a window into traditional Eastern European womenswear. Measuring just 8½ x 17 inches, it exemplifies the intricate headwear accessories worn by women in rural Slovak communities, often as part of festive or everyday folk costumes. Such caps were not mere adornments but cultural markers, signifying regional identity, marital status, or social role through their design and embellishments—here hinted at by floral motifs. Made from linen, metal, and silk, the cap showcases masterful textile techniques typical of Slova...