Cap

Art Historical Context

This delicate cotton cap, crafted around 1820 by an unknown American artist, offers a glimpse into the everyday elegance of early 19th-century fashion. Part of the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, it exemplifies the soft, practical headwear worn by women indoors or for day-to-day activities. Made from cotton—a fabric revolutionized by the cotton gin and growing American textile mills—this cap highlights the shift toward more affordable, domestically produced materials during the post-War of 1812 eraIn the 1820s, such caps were essent...