- Museum number
- 2001,0703.1
- Description
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Composite silver-gilt cap-hook -cast in the form of a six-spoked Catherine wheel inset with a multi-petalled flower-head radiating around a large hemispherical boss in the centre of the flower. Selective gilding on the rim of the wheel and centre of the flower-head emphasises the contrasting form and texture of the various decorative elements. A recurving hook is soldered to the reverse.
- Production date
- 16thC
- Dimensions
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Height: 17.90 millimetres
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Weight: 3.58 grammes
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Width: 19.20 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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X-ray fluorescence gives a silver content of 98 per cent.
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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).
The survival of an object such as this cap-hook demonstrates another fashion - that of wearing multiple ornaments in the hat. Evidence of this practice can be seen in contemporary images which show these smaller ornaments worn alongside the emblematic badges on the hat, such as Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait of Simon George, ca.1535 or that of Sir Nicholas Poyntz, after Holbein, ca.1535.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2005-2006 25 Jul-13 Jan, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2005 12 Feb-26 Jun, Newcastle, Hancock Museum, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2004-2005 1 Oct-15 Jan, Manchester Museum, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2004 30 Apr-21 Sep, Cardiff, National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
2003-2004 21 Nov-14 Mar, London, BM, Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past
- Condition
- Good
- Acquisition date
- 2001
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 2001,0703.1
- Additional IDs
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Treasure/PAS number: T102 (Treasure number)
