Top hat
ca. 1850
Medium
silk
Classification
Top hat
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; Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 1921
Accession Number
2009.300.1659
Art Historical Context
This elegant silk top hat, created by the American maker Nash around 1850, captures the refined style of mid19th-century menswear. Produced during a time when top hats served as essential accessories for gentlemen, the piece reflects the formal dress codes of urban America, where such headwear signaled status and respectability in both business and social settings. Crafted from silk, the hat demonstrates the material’s prized qualities—its smooth texture and subtle sheen made it a favored choice for luxury millinery over more everyday felt versions. As part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s...