Bonnet

PeriodCirca 1840 - 1845

Place MadeNew Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumStraw, wire, silk, gauze, buckram, ostrich feathers

Dimensions11 × 10.5 × 12 in. (27.9 × 26.7 × 30.5 cm)

ClassificationsAccessories, Women's

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Amelia Vredenberg Knight, 1940

Object number1477

DescriptionA woman's bonnet of finely braided golden yellow straw, with a wire armature along the entire brim. The bonnet, commonly called the "leghorn" style, is designed with a deep slanted crown set far back on the head, with a rounded top and a wide brim with curved edges. The interior of the bonnet's crown is supported by stiffened buckgram and lined with soft ivory silk. The bonnet's trimmings include a wide band of off-white openwork gauze sewn in a deliberate casual fashion with puffs and ruching, and leaves and flowers of pink and black silk fine net over wire, with some of the larger flowers incorporating black ostrich feather tips. The bonnet retains its long wide chin ties of openwork off-white gauze.
NotesAlthough the original owner of this rare survivor is unknown, the bonnet descended within the family of Amelia Vredenburgh Knight. Amelia Knight was a descendant of Richard Hartshorne, one of Monmouth County's earliest settlers and donated numerous items, including clothing artifacts, to the Historical Association. Mrs. Knight donated another family bonnet dating at least two decades earlier than this yellow straw bonnet. (See accession number 1478.)

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