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| Figure 1 |
In the Nova Zemlya gallery at the Rijksmuseum is a case of
seventeenth and eighteenth century whalers’ knitted caps which come not from
Nova Zemlya but from Spitsbergen. Between 1979 and 1981 there were a series of
archaeological expeditions to sites of Dutch whaling camps in the Arctic. Excavations
took place at Smeerenburg on Amsterdam Island in the north-west corner of the
Spitsbergen archipelago and at the nearby cemetery at Zeeuwse Uitkijk. The sites produced a large quantity of
textiles, including whole garments and a number of knitted caps. (Hacquebord,
2005)
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| Figure 2 |
The whaling camps in Spitsbergen were first used by the Noordsche
Compagnie (Northern Company), which operated in the area of Smeerenburg from
1614 to 1642 when the company was dissolved. Dutch whalers continued in the
area. The museum has given the caps a
broad dating range, as it was not possible to accurately date the burials, but
the graves excavated date from approximately 1600 to 1750. The whalers were not
just Dutch nationals, in the early years many Basques were also involved, and
later there are references to Danes, English and Germans among the crews.
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| Figure 3 |
The caps come from a later period than the collection over 30
sixteenth century caps and cap fragments found at various sites in London, and
now held by the Museum of
London. There are also a number of sixteenth and seventeenth century
caps excavated from the sites of old canals in Copenhagen. The canals were
mainly filled in the 1660s and the material is now in the Nationalmuseet. Two late
seventeenth century caps were found on the Gunnister man and are now in the National
Museums of Scotland. The seven caps shown here are the ones that
are in the case in the Rijksmuseum. Better photographs are available via the Rijksmuseum
website and permalinks to these are given below. Although the Rijksmuseum
website offers a choice of Dutch or English, if you chose English the
description of the garment will still be in Dutch. I have tried here to offer a
description based on what the Dutch says and my own observations. You will note
that there is a considerable difference between the colours in the photographs
I took in the museum and the photographs of the same caps on the museums
website.
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| Figure 4 |
The textiles from both sites were examined by Vons-Comis, who has
written extensively on the subject. (Vons-Comis S. Y., 1984) (Vons-Comis S. , 1987 a) (Vons-Comis S.
,
1987 b)
(Comis, 2005) At Zeeuwse Uitkijk there were 31 knitted caps, and leather cap
trimmed with fur from 50 graves. Vons-Comis identified five types of cap. Some
have been double
knit, double knitting is a method by which two layers are knitted at once
giving a double thickness with stocking stitch showing on both the inside and
the outside. Some have a finer outer
with a coarser knit inner, the two then being sewn together. Sometimes there is
a single layer the cap. Caps come with or without a turned up brim, and the brims
may or may not have ear-flaps, the ear flaps are unfortunately impossible to
see in these photos.
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| Figure 5 |
The colours vary considerably; there is a difference between
caps from the Smeerenburg site and the Zeeuwse Uitkijk site. The caps from
Smeerenburg have lost their original dyed colours and have taken a uniform
brown from the soil, while the conditions at Zeeuwse Uitkijk mean that the
colours have
been retained. Some of the knitting yarns appear to have been tie-dyed using
the ikak technique.
The caps on display, with their permalinks, are listed below
Date: ca. 1650 - ca. 1800
Size: Circumference 60 cm by 25
cm tall
Description: This looks much redder in my photo than in the Rijksmuseum
one. A dark brown cap, with a slight upturned brim, a tail at the top, and ear
flaps. Knitted in the round in stocking
stitch the cap is double knitted.
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| Figure 6 |
Figure 2: -
Date: 1600-1800
Size: Circumference 48cm by 24cm tall
Description: This is knitted with a thicker yarn than some of the others.
The wool according to the Rijksmuseum site appears to have originally been green for the
body of the cap; however they describe the 5 cm deep brim as having dark and light brown horizontal stripes and dark blue rectangular blocks, but in the
photo they look to be in the same colour as the main body. It is described as having earflaps.
Figure 3:-
Date: 1700-1800
Size: circumference 60 cm by 28 cm tall
Description: Cap in red, blue, green, black and light brown horizontal
stripes of different widths. It is double thickness and the inner cap has the
same stripes, it is described as having earflaps. According to the Rijksmuseum site this is not
double knit but consists of two parts sewn together, each part is cut up at the
top and sewn. Knitted in the round in stocking stitch, with forty-five rows per
ten centimetres.
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| Figure 7 |
Figure 4:-
Date: 1650-1700
Size: Circumference 52cm by 22cm tall
Description: This is knitted in the round in stocking stitch. The Rijksmuseum site describes it as, light brown and fine knit with folded
rim and a small tail at the top.
Figure 5:-
Date: ca. 1642 - ca. 1800
Size: Circumference 65 cm by 23cm tall
Description: Double knit in the round in stocking stitch in a fine, light
brown wool. The brim is partially folded, and is between two inches and four wide depending on whether it was fully or partially
turned up, it has two horizontal blue stripes inside. Described
as with ear flaps.
Figure 6:-
Date: 1700-1800
Size: Circumference 30cm by 26cm tall
Description: Again knitted in the
round in stocking stitch, and in
two parts sewn together.
The outer is in fine knit multicoloured
wool with light brown, light
green, dark green and blue horizontal
stripes in different widths and
oblique squares. The inner cap is a thinker yarn and
light brown. Described as with ear flaps. Multiple repairs are visible.
Figure 7:-
Date: 1650-1800
Size: Circumference 60cm by 24cm tall
Description: Cap double knit in the round in stocking stitch, with
ear flaps. The thicker yarn is a somewhat random blue and white pattern with the yarn described by Rijksmuseum
as ikat dyed.
There are other
caps in the Rijksmuseum
collection which are not on display, but there are photos and records on their
website, for example:
Another Spitzbergen cap
Date: ca. 1650 -
ca. 1700
Size: circumference 58 cm by h 23 cm tall
Description: Cap in
blue and orange striped multicolored wool with ear flaps. It has a slight brim. Knit in the
round in stocking stitch.
And another
Date: ca. 1650 -
ca. 1800
Size: circumference 61 cm by h 30 cm tall
Description: Cap in
a dark blue thicker wool. Knit in the round in stocking stitch.
The turned up brim has stripes
in red, light brown and blue.
Bibliography
Comis, S. (2005). Onderzoek van zeventiende- en
achttiende-eeuwse kleding opgegraven op Spitsbergen: mogelijkheden en
onmogelijkheden [Investigation of seventeenth and eighteenth-century clothing
unearthed Svalbard: possibilities and impossibilities]. In N. Boschman, L.
Hacquebord, & J. W. Veluwenkamp, Het Topje Van De Isberg: 35 Jaar
Arctisch Centrum (1970-2005) (pp. 61-69).
Hacquebord, L. (2005).
Twenty five years of multi-disciplinary research into the17th century whaling
settlements in Spitsbergen. In N. Boschman, L. Hacquebord, & J. W.
Veluwenkamp, Het Topje Van De Ijsberg: 35 Jaar Artisch Centrum (1970-2005)
(pp. 53-60).
Vons-Comis, S. (1987
b). Seventeenth century garments from grave 579, Zeeuwse Uitkijk, Spitsbergen.
In P. a. Walton, Textiles in northern archaeology: NESAT 3. London:
Archetype.
Vons-Comis, S. (1987
a). Workman's clothing or burial garments? seventeeth and eighteenth century
clothing remains from Spitsbergen. Norsk Polarinstitutt Rapportserie ,
38.
Vons-Comis, S. Y.
(1984). Seventeenth and eighteenth century clothing remnants from Spitsbergen.
. Kostuum , pp. 32-36.
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