The clothing of Catherine Tollemache 1597

 Introduction

In 1597 an extensive inventory was made of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk. This inventory has been transcribed and published by the Suffolk Records Society. (1) The inventory contains ten folios listing what was in the wardrobe. The information below is on the clothing belonging to Catherine Tollemache, Figure 1 is her portrait done around the time of the inventory.

Figure 1: Catherine Tollemache. c.1597. circle of Robert Peake. Helmingham Hall

 

Catherine Cromwell (1557?-1621) daughter of Henry, 2nd Lord Cromwell and Mary Paulet, married Lionel Tollemache of Helmingham, Suffolk in 1580, and by 1596 they had produced nine children, two of whom had already died.. When Lionel’s father (also Lionel) died in 1575 the younger Lionel (1562– 1612), was a minor, and to clear his father’s debts his mother entered into an arrangement with her parents. In 1596 the arrangement came to an end and Lionel finally got control of all his estates It is against this background that the inventory of Helmingham Hall was taken in 1597. Helmingham was their main, but not their only residence, so there may have been other clothes elsewhere

As was common at the time clothing linens are not kept in the wardrobe, there is therefore no record in the inventory of her smocks, ruffs, etc.

Gowns

Catherine has seven gowns listed, two of which are described as old, one is black velvet, and the other black and purple tuft taffeta. Tuft taffeta or tuftaffeta, is a silk taffeta with the nap or pile arranged in tufts. An expensive fabric it appears in a 1572 list at 12 shillings a yard.

Her other five gowns include one of tuft taffeta bound with a curled gold lace, and a further two gowns of black velvet, one with hanging sleeves and the other “bound about with a black lace”. A badly cut about surviving gown in mulberry coloured velvet, from the 1610s is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. [Figure 2] There are many detailed photographs of it on the V&A site as it was examined and pattern produced for a V&A book. (2 pp. 18-33). It, like one of Catherine’s gowns, has hanging sleeves.

 

Figure 2: Mulberry velvet gown. 1610s. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Catherine also has a mo[u]rning gown with a “curtle” [kirtle] and stomacher, and finally a “cloth gowne of silke russet, layd with gold buttons and bound about with gold lace.” Silk russet is an interesting term as russet as it usually refers to a coarse wool fabric, silk russet, would seem to be a much better quality of russet. In 1606 a woollen draper has in stock both “a kersey of silk russet containing 18 yards £2 10s” and “one other piece of silk russet containing 10 yards £1” (3) These fabrics are therefore 2s 9d and 2s a yard. When Spufford analysed clothing purchased between 1570 and 1610 she found russet prices ranging from 5d a yard to 4s 5d a yard. (4)

As four of Catherine’s gowns, including the mourning gown, are black, and one of black and purple, it is unsurprising that she is dressed in black in her portrait. [Figure 1]

Vastgard [Farthingale] and “vardingall sleeves”

Catherine has three vastgards, almost certainly in this context farthingales. Farthingale is often spelt with a v at this time, taking as its source the French verdugale, or vertugalle, and the Spanish verdugado. Farthingale is usually used to describe the support structure under the garment that gives the garment its shape. As Bendall has commented, “there were likely many styles or variations of farthingales that came and went and left no definitive mark in the historical record.” (5 p. 29)

The farthingales in Catherine’s inventory appear to be the fabric garments go over the structure, and not the structure itself, so it is impossible to tell if they were worn over rolls or whalebone structures, or if they incorporated support. Figure 3 shows the use of rolls as a support. One vastgard is described as black satin printed [? possibly a mistranscription of pinked]and cut, and comes with a stomacher and sleeves, making a set to wear under a gown. Another vastgard is ash coloured satin, cut and bound about with a parchment lace of gold. The third is old and is of black tuft taffeta. 

Figure 3: Maertin der Vos. The Vanity of Women. c.1600. Metropolitan Museum.

She has four pair of “vardingall sleeves.” Vardingall, or farthingale sleeves were under sleeves with whalebone supports to make the sleeve over them stand out. Queen Elizabeth I had them provided by her tailor William Jones; “Item for making iij paire of verthingale sleves of holland cloth bound with riben, bented with whales bone of our great wardrobe.” (6 p. 189) A rare survival of a farthingale sleeve has been examined by Ninya Mikhaila, her article in Costume is open access, and there is a post on the EUP site. Figure 4 below shows the sleeve. (7)

 

Figure 4: A farthingale sleeve with whalebone hoops. Private collection. Photo © The Tudor Tailor

Sleeves and stomachers

Sleeves and stomachers are often listed separately in sixteenth century wardrobe accounts and inventories. Apart from the farthingale sleeves Catherine owns five other pairs of sleeves, four of which come with matching stomachers. Two of these sets are described as of “whit tuft sacking,” the other two are one of olive colour taffata, lined with sarsenet of “fylbirde [filibert] couller” and the other is of a chestnut colour, lined with a sea-water green sarsenet. The final pair of sleeves are of black velvet sleeves, cut and drawn out with lawn, these might even be the sleeves in her portrait. 

Kirtles and petticoats

Catherine has seven kirtles, in addition to the one that comes with the mourning gown. The most expensive was probably the one of cloth of silver. In the 1540s cloth of silver was 38 or 40 shillings the yard, and a century later was £3 a yard. (8 p. 293). Survivals of cloth of silver are rare. There is a piece of sixteenth century cloth of silver in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and also a 1660s suit in the National Museums of Scotland. (9 pp. 21-45) Figure 5 is a close up of the doublet from the Scottish suit, showing how badly the textile has degraded.

Figure 5: Detail of cloth of silver from a 1660s doublet in the National Museums of Scotland

Three of Catherine’s kirtles are black, one white, one hair coloured and one carnation coloured. Three kirtles are velvet and two are satin. The hair coloured kirtle doesn’t state a fabric, but has a stomacher cut with it. The black velvet kirtle has a broad gold lace, and the carnation velvet kirtle has a broad silver lace. A black velvet kirtle is cut and lined with gold camblet. Camlet, or camblet, is a difficult fabric to pin down, as Beck says “for in their production the changes have been rung with all materials in nearly every possible combination ; sometimes of wool, sometimes of silk, sometimes hair, sometimes of hair with wool or silk, at others of silk and wool warp and hair woof.” (10 p. 50)

Catherine has two petticoats, one of sea water green damask, embroidered, and here that might mean appliqued as it is done with black velvet and a twist of silver. The other is of a peach colour guarded with black velvet.

Cloaks and a riding outfit

Catherine has three cloaks, plus one which forms part of a riding outfit. One black tuft taffeta cloak is lined with fur. The other two cloaks are both white, the one of satin having a broad silver lace, and the one of taffeta having a white silk lace.

What appears to be a riding outfit consists of a “cloke, a safegard & hood of purple cloth layd with gold bow buttons”.  A safeguard is generally considered to be a form of overskirt or petticoat worn to protect clothing when riding, it often comes matched with a cloak and a riding hood. In 1631 a will leaves “unto Mary Hutton my whole riding suit viz, cloake, safegarde and hoode”. (11)

Stockings

Unlike her husband who has twenty pairs of stockings listed, Catherine only has two pair of stockings are listed, both are silk, one peach coloured and the other watchet. Watchet is a pale blue. It may be that she has other stockings elsewhere.

Shoes and Pantofles

Surprisingly no shoes are listed for Catherine, so again they may be elsewhere, but she does have one pair of black velvet “pantaffels.” Pasntafles are confusing because while they always appear to be backless (mules), they can be either an overshoe, or a slipper. They could also be a chopine. As Puttenham wrote in 1589, “The actors..did walke upon those high corked shoes or pantofles, which now they call in Spaine & Italy Shoppini.” (12) Queen Elizabeth I’s shoemakers made shoes, pantofles and slippers for her, some of those pantafles were made to match the shoes, indicating overshoes. They appear to have had cork soles, though apparently were not as high as chopine. (6 p. 215) A backless shoe, or slipper or pantafle in the Metropolitan Museum is show in Figure 6

Figure 6: Mule. 1600-25. Metropolitan Museum New York

 

Hat

Only one hat appears in Catherine’s list a “coullered hatt with a gold band.”

References

1. Coleman, Moira. Household Inventories of Helmingham Hall 1597-1741. Woodbridge : Boydell Press for The Suffolk Records Society, 2018.

2. North, Susan and Tiramani, Jenny. Seventeenth century women's dress patterns, book 2. London : V&A Publishing, 2012.

3. Hampshire Record Office. Hants. RO1606B/02: Will and Inventory of Arthur Baffe, woollen draper, 1606.

4. Spufford, Margaret. Fabric for seventeenth century children and adolescents' clothes. Textile History. 2003, Vol. 34.

5. Bendall, Sarah A. Shaping Femininity: foundation garments, the body and women in Early Modern England. London : Bloomsbury, 2022.

6. Arnold, Janet. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd. Leeds : Maney, 1988.

7. Mikhaila, Ninya. Borne Out with Whalebone: A Late Sixteenth-Century Farthingale Sleeve. Costume. 2024, Vol. 58, 1.

8. Gray, Todd. Devon Household Accounts 1627-59. Part 2 . Exeter : Devon and Cornwall Record Society, new series, vol. 39, 1996.

9. Wilcox, D. A Suit of Silver: The Underdress of a Knight of the Garter in the Late Seventeenth Century. Costume. 2014, Vol. 48, 1.

10. Beck, S. William. The Draper's Dictionary. London : The Warehousemen & Draper's Journal Office, 1882.

11. Wood, H. W. ed. Wills and inventories from the registry at Durham, part 4, [1603-1649]. Publications of the Surtees Society. 1929, Vol. 142.

12. Puttenham, George. The Arte of English Poesie. London : Richard Field, 1589.