Featured Linen Bonnet Help Please

A few more showing close ups:

Close up of the back seam from the inside:


Close up of the back seam from the outside:


Close up of the brim attached to the front from the outside:

 

I would think the stains could be removed.

I know what I would try, but I doubt that antique clothing people would agree.

 

I would love to see you modeling it.........

 

Oh dear, I am afraid it is a bit small for me!

 

As it isn't mine I am not going to try, I will leave it to whoever buys it

 

Hi! What a charming piece! Love the color and the style!

Unfortunately, it does not look like handmade lace to me. It has the look of **"Schliffli" lace. The petal shapes are clearly meant to mimic handmade bobbin lace "leaves"... but are too loose to have been made by hand.

** Schliffli Lace is made by embroidering on machine-made net or on a fabric which is dissolved away by chemicals ('chemical' lace) or burned away by heat ('burnt out' lace). The Schiffli embroidery machine was invented by Isaac Groebli in 1865.

The bubbles (circles) are impossible to have been made with bobbin techniques. There is way too much going on on the straight edges to be handmade and the "Greek Key" element... is also impossible to be worked as a bobbin element and have that "look".

Meaning; yes, you could make a Greek Key element in bobbin lace - but it wouldn't look padded like that.

I can send examples if you wish; but... I'm pretty certain that the lace is machine made. That said; it is darling!

If I can answer any other questions or be of help; please feel free to respond.

Leslie

 

Do you recognize the gimp/trim on the brim of the cap?

 

OK, a little family history...

My friend’s side of the family that the bonnet came from is English and have been in New England since the mid 1600s. She has traced her family back past Rodger Conant who came from England and was one of the founding fathers of Salem MA. The family has lived in MA since (not New Hampshire).

She believes the bonnet was owned by one of his descendants named Martha who lived from 1858 to 1909. If, as has been suggested here, the bonnet dates to the Civil War era, Martha was only 7 when the war ended, so maybe it’s from after the Civil War. It is small, though too large for a baby or small child, so maybe it’s for an older child or pre teen? I doubt it would have been Martha’s mother’s, unless she’s was very, very tiny, since she would have been in her 20s during the Civil War.

Thank you everyone for all your thoughts, digging into this has been fun...and my friend tells me they are still going through all the “stuff” they have so I will be seeing more

 

Civil War Era could still be used as a descriptive.
If Martha was 7 in 1865, five years later, she's 12 that's still the Reconstruction.

 

Specifically no... but it has the traits of a machine made braid.

Leslie

 

You mentioned things are a bit sketchy. Does she know when they actually acquired it, and from whom it came? There have to be some known facts. Why does she think it belonged to the person born in 1858?

 

Oh, and @bluumz had asked to see the close up pictures, but she hasn't made any further comments since they were posted. So, paging @bluumz

 

I thought so too..

While I think the fabric itself likely handmade, I have not got enough tatting experience to know what I am looking at there. I think the braided trim makes it look like a table napkin made into a hat.

 

I'm unsure on this piece. The long basting thread, fairly poor construction, clunky lace, and odd edge trim just seem... I don't know. It just seems cobbled together. I'm even wondering if it could be a reenactment piece put together using some old/odd bits. I could be way off... Sorry that I can't be more help!

 

OH SNAP!! bluumz, what a brain you've got! It never occurred to me.
That could explain the table napkin cobbled appearance!

 

I will ask her if anyone in her family was into reenactments

 

Things were just handed down from generation to generation in her family and ended up with her. She has a lot of old photos but none showing anyone wearing the bonnet.

We were working not he possibility that the bonnet may date from the Civil War and Reconstruction era. That relative would be the only one who would have been of an age at the right time to wear something too large for a young child but too small for an adult.

 

Thank you -- I hope you figure it out.

 

Having grown up with seamstresses in my family and taking 8 years of sewing in 4H I also was getting the feeling it was pieced together from disparate parts. I'm certainly not an expert, but I've got trunks full of 'soft' antiques from my mother's family that only go back to the late 1800s and this doesn't look much older than that to me, but I'm not seeing it in person. The thread is also a good indicator of age. Do you know Maureen Leavenworth who owns Vintage in Vogue? Unfortunately, you can't take it to her right now, but she is an amazing resource for vintage clothing. Tish who works for her is also very knowledgable but she's stuck at home as well. When things finally open up, you could ask either of them.

 

I know them both but I've been worried about Maureen. She just opened her third shop about 2 months ago and then the virus hit! I haven't wanted to bother her right now when she has, I am sure, a lot to deal with. But thanks Bev for the suggestions