- Museum number
- 1983,1102.1
- Description
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A gold circular medallion hat-ornamanet with an enamelled frame and applied enamelled relief with the figures of Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well; there are four enamelled loops attached to the back-plate; the enamel is red, green, blue and opaque white. The relief has been attached by means of butterfly clips, which are visible on the reverse.
- Production date
- 1530-1540 (circa)
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 33 millimetres
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Weight: 0.012 kilograms
- Curator's comments
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This hat badge represents advanced court taste of Protestants in this period of rapid change in matters of religion. What is the significance of this subject? Compare with second hat badge on same theme acquired in 1955, made in same workshop slightly later, around 1540. Note butterfly clips on the back for holding relief to the backplate. The figure group is embossed on very thin layer of gold. For technichal description see Tait in Antiquaries Journal 1962, p. 230.
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Hat ornaments were worn by men in their caps from the end of the fifteenth century and could be either purely decorative or symbolic. Those of the latter type are traditionally termed enseignes, since they either conveyed the personal intent of the wearer or carried a visible message. This type of jewel finds its origins in the medieval pilgrim badge, an object that was mostly mass-produced and often in base metal. It has been suggested that the transition from this type to a fashionable male ornament is attributable to the arrival of the French king, Charles VIII, into Naples in February 1495. On his cap, the king wore a gold circular jewel and his men had similar jewels (though not of gold) on their caps or sleeves. The Italians soon adopted this fashion and it then spread north reaching most of the European courts. The fashion lasted only until the late-sixteenth/early-seventeenth century, when the wearing of aigrettes became more popular.
The hat ornament was usually commissioned of gold, and was enamelled or jewelled, or both. A group of gilt-bronze plaquettes in the British Museum’s collection, with the characteristic loops or pierced holes for attachment to a cap or garment, suggests that this was a fashion that trickled down to lower classes of society. The majority of these plaquettes show scenes from classical mythology, allowing for the meaning to be understood by a larger audience. This category of objects has been mostly cast, which was a much cheaper and quicker mode of production than those that were commissioned. One of these plaquettes (1915,1216.133) has visible traces of enamel. This combined with the gilded decoration and placed at the apex of the body would have deceived any casual passer-by that this was a costly piece.
Gentlemen, in imitation of courtly practice, may have also worn hat ornaments painted with Limoges enamel. Although it is often very hard to determine a definitive use for Limoges enamelled plaques, since they could assume a variety of roles, there are four similar hat ornaments recorded in Hackenbroch, Enseignes (1996), figs. 95-6, 98-9. Bernard Palissy commented on the wearing of Limoges enamel badges in his treatises: "Je m'assure avoir vu donner pur trois sols la douzaine des figures d'enseignes que l'en portoit aux bonnets, lasquelles enseignes estoyent si bieng labourées et leurs esmaux si bien parfondus sur le cuivre, qu'il n'y avoit nulle peinture si plaisante." (cited in Hackenbroch, p.82).
- Location
- On display (G46/dc6)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1997 10 May-5 Oct, Germany, Pforzheim, Schmuchkmuseum Pforzheim, Idol and Ideal - Human Imagery in Jewellery of the 16th Century
- Condition
- It is much damaged on the relief and the loops, but more or less intact on the frame.
- Acquisition date
- 1983
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1983,1102.1
