Poke bonnet
Unknown Artist
ca. 1865
Medium
straw, silk, cotton
Classification
Poke bonnet
Culture
American
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Sarah F. Milligan and Kate Milligan Brill, 1940
Accession Number
2009.300.1427
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of mid-19th-century American fashion this charming poke bonnet, crafted around 1865 from delicate straw, silk, and. Poke bonnets, named for their distinctive projecting front brim that "p" forward like a beak, were a staple of women's headwear from the 1830s the 1860s. This example, from the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the era's blend of practicality and femininity, with its lightweight straw base offering sun protection and ventilation—essential during the Civil War years and Reconstruction. The bonnet's construction highlights artisanal t...