#2107 $800
Caned gauze bonnet, c.1840-1850
This lovely bonnet from Romantic period is a special find for the serious collector. It is a miracle this rare and delicate bonnet has survived at all; the sheer gauze is more like a whisper than fabric. And best of all—the bonnet is all original.
The frame of the bonnet is fashioned from cane, not metal. The sheer gauze is lined with a stiffer version of gauze in the back only. The brim and skirt are unlined. The bonnet has its original silk ribbon ties. The outer edge is trimmed with ribbon candy-style self ruffles.
Bonnets during this period had several functions: female adornment; propriety; a protective covering for the head. While this lovely bonnet undoubtedly was a prized fashion accessory, it was too delicate to protect a woman from the elements.
Frances Trollope, the English novelist and mother of not yet famous novelist Anthony Trollope, wrote an 1830 best seller about her travels in America. She was favorably impressed by the stylish dress of American women, even though it sometimes seemed impractical:
I have often shivered at seeing a young beauty picking her way through the snow with a pale rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very top of her head: I knew one young lady whose pretty little ear was actually frost-bitten from being thus exposed.
The condition is almost excellent and all original. There are a few breaks in the gauze on the skirt and a few pin-prick holes at the end of one silk ribbon.
It measures: 7 1/2" from front to back and 9" skirt length.
