Coif
Unknown Artist
late 1500s
Medium
Silk, gold and silver thread, sequins, padding, linen; embroidery
Dimensions
21 × 42.2 cm
Classification
Embroidery
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Accession Number
1934.206
About this artwork
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 pointin...