Skip to Main Content

Coif

late 1500s
This object has related works. See
Silk, gold and silver thread, sequins, padding, linen; embroidery
Overall: 21 x 42.2 cm (8 1/4 x 16 5/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1934.206
Location: not on view
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Description

Sumptuous interlacing scrolls bearing flora and fruit embroidered with gold, silver, and silk thread decorate this set composed of a coif (cap seen here) and forehead cloth (see 1934.231). Individual motifs representing England appear within the scrolls, such as the Tudor rose, carnation, honeysuckle, and acorn.

Fashionable ladies wore coifs in the house as semiformal dress and in bed for receiving guests. The large loops along its lower edge were drawn together to keep it in place. Worn pointing backward, the forehead cloth functioned like a visor, supposedly preventing wrinkles and keeping off the sun and cold air.
Coif

Coif

late 1500s

England, Elizabethan Period, late 16th century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.