Early Modern Knitted Waistcoats and Jackets

Waistcoat. Norsk Folkemuseum.(CC-BY-SA)

This post was originally written in 2017, and up dated with links checked and another four survivals added in September 2020.

The silk knitted waistcoats mainly of the seventeenth century are fairly well known. The push for putting together this, very incomplete overview and list, came from this month’s Knitting History Forum meeting, (November 2017) where Jana Trepte (Kiel University) gave a presentation on ‘Piecing the Bremen waistcoat together: an everyday knitted garment of the early 1600s.’ 

Jana talked about an excavation by the river in Bremen between 2004 and 2007, which produced finds dating between the 1590s and 1630. Among the vast number of finds were at least 10,000 fragments of textiles and leather, of which at least 2% are knitted. Jana had investigated twelve of these fragments closely, at least one of which, the largest, would appear from the shape to be from a waistcoat. The fibre is wool, and the shaping was produced by adding and decreasing stitches. The gauge at which it was knitted was 68 to 10 cm. by 84 per 10 cm. (Please note that having spent nearly 60 years talking about stitches and rows per inch, I am still having difficulties converting to wale (vertical column of stitches) and course (horizontal row) per 10 centimetres) The garment from which the fragment had come had obviously been worn and was ripped or cut in places. 

Other recent literature

Ruth Gilbert has done work on the Lindisfarne knitted fragments These fragments were from a late 19^th century excavation on Lindisfarne, and were examined by Elizabeth Crowfoot in an unpublished paper in 1951, and then by Ruth in 2007. Crowfoot thought that seven of the sixteen knitted fragments might be from a knitted jerkin, and Ruth has created a conjectured reconstruction of where the fragments might fit on a waistcoat. The yarn is wool knitted at 30 stitches and 40 rounds to 10 cm. Ruth Gilbert, 2015. Not so much Cinderella as the Sleeping Beauty: Neglected Evidence of Forgotten Skill. In: North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X; edited by Eva B. Andersson Strand, Margarita Gleba, Ulla Mannering, Cherine Munkholt (Oxford: Oxbow)

Maj Ringgaard has published about knitted waistcoats in the Scandinavian context, and although this mainly examines silk waistcoats, she also looks at knitted wool, linen and cotton. Her paper has a comparative analysis chart of seventeen surviving damask knitted silk waistcoats, two in the UK and the rest in Norway, Sweden or Denmark.  The gauges for these run from 56 to 78 stitches to 10 cm and from 70 to 105 rows to 10 cm. Ringgaard comments that “consistent differences in the damask knitted waistcoats indicate two different places of production with highly divergent knitting traditions.” She also examines the difference between brocade knitted and damask knitted waistcoats.  Maj Ringgaard, 2014. Silk knitted waistcoats: a 17^th century fashion item. In: Fashionable Ecounters: perspectives and trends in textile and dress in the Early Modern Nordic World. (Oxford: Oxbow), pp.73-103

Susan North has examined and produced a pattern from a coral and yellow surviving waistcoat, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The flower pattern is similar to those published in a c.1650 German design book.  Susan North, 2011, Knitted silk waistcoat. In: Seventeenth Century Women’s Dress Patterns, book 1; edited by Susan North and Jenny Tiramani. (London: Victoria and Albert Museum) pp.88-97

Deborah Pulliam says she has examined seventeen waistcoats, but unfortunately does not provide a list. She mentions those in the Los Angeles Museum (AC1995 1.1), the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (06.2397), (1940.22 43.877), (43.869)and (95.501), Museum of Costume Nottingham (#22), Victoria and Albert Museum (346.1898), National Museums of Scotland (1973.29), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (TSR14.134.18) and (TSR46.156.117), Burrell  Collection, Glasgow  [29/126], unfortunately these are only eleven of the seventeen. She also mentions the example in the  Musée de la mode et du textile Paris (UCAD #996.68.1), which she says she has not actually examined, and the two adult knitted jackets in the coffins of two children in Roskilde Cathedral in Denmark. Deborah has deliberately not looked at the pull over the head style of waistcoat. Deborah Pulliam, 2002, Knitted Silk and Silver: those mysterious jackets. Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1540&context=tsaconf

For more information on the Roskilde waistcoats see Else Østergard,  The coffins of two royal children in Roskilde cathedral. In: Textiles in Northern Archaeology: NESAT III Textile Symposium in York 6-9 May 1987, edited by  Penelope Walton and John P. Wild, (London: Archetype, 1990)

Survivals

Jacket, 1630-49, Glasgow Museums CC-BY-NC

Below is a selection of links to surviving knitted waistcoats/jackets. This is by no means complete. I am very well aware of many others, however many cannot be found in museums online collections. 

 

Please note that the terms used to describe the garments are those that appear on the various museums’ websites.

16^th-17^th century – Jacket – Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession Number 43.877), silk https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/jacket-120364

16^th century - Child’s knitted undershirt. Museum of London, wool, brown, https://www.museumoflondonprints.com/image/64864/details?my_current_image=64864&page=3&what_screen=0&backto=browse_by_cat.php&cat_name=Tudor+%25281485+-+1603%2529&current_cat=55

1580-1610 – Man’s jacket – LACMA. (Accession No. AC1995 1.1) Silk and metallic thread. Note no image is available on the LACMA link https://collections.lacma.org/node/176893

 

Late 16^th century - Man or woman's jacket – National Museums of Scotland (Accession Number A.1973.29), pale blue silk and silver metal threads. https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/?item_id=350708

17^th century – Jacket – Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession Number 43.869), silk and metallic thread https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/jacket-120252

17^th century – Jacket – Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession Number 38.1085), silk and metallic thread https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/jacket-46670

17^th century – Jacket – Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession Number 62.65), silk and metallic https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/womans-jacket-114824 Note no image is available on the link

17^th century – Jacket – Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Accession Number 06.2397), silk and metallic, grey blue and gold. https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/jacket-69127

17^th century – Knitted hunting jacket – Cleveland Museum of Art, silk, green and gold http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1931.62

17^th century - Woman or man's jacket. National Museums of Scotland (Accession Number A.1973.28) red silk and gilt metal https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/collection-search-results/?item_id=352634

17^th century – Jacket (baby’s), Victoria and Albert Museum. cotton, white http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O108312/jacket-unknown/

17^th century – Baby’s knitted jacket. Museum of London. Cotton, white. https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/89770.html

1600-1620 – Jacket – Victoria and Albert Museum. silk, blue and yellow http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O129527/jacket-unknown/

1600-1625 – Jacket in pieces – Victoria and Albert Museum, silk, purple and silver http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O139884/jacket-unknown/

1600-1625 – Jacket– Victoria and Albert Museum, silk, green and silver http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107796/jacket-unknown/

1630s – 1640s – Bodice/jacket/waistcoat. Glasgow Museums (Accession Number 29.126), silk http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/mwebcgi/mweb?request=record;id=36162;type=101

1630-1650 – Informal woman’s jacket – This was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum when the photograph was taken, but I can’t find in the museum’s online collection. Silk and metal thread, red. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Informal_woman%27s_jacket,_Italy,_1630-1650,_knitted_silk_yarn_-_Patricia_Harris_Gallery_of_Textiles_%26_Costume,_Royal_Ontario_Museum_-_DSC09364.JPG

1640-1649 – Waistcoat- Museum of London. silk, blue. Association with the execution of King Charles I  https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/88989.html

Mid 17^th century – Trøye – Norsk Folkemuseum (Accession number NF.1960-0520), silk, red https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023192485/troye

1630-1700 – Waistcoat – Victoria and Albert Museum, silk, coral and yellow. Pattern similar to those of the waistcoats in waistcoats in the Royal Ontario Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Museum der Stadt in Ulm.  http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10383/waistcoat-unknown/

Late 17^th century – Sweater – Metropolitan Museum New York. (Accession Number: 14.134.18)  Silk, green  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/84229?searchField=All&sortBy=relevance&when=A.D.+1600-1800&ft=knitted&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=10

Late 17^th century – Vest – Royal Historic Palaces. Silk, red. Vest belonging to William III (1650-1702) Sadly the Twitter feed photograph is now showing as corrupt, however it appears halfway down this list. https://www.hrp.org.uk/media/1072/rcdc_top-10_items_2.pdf

 

 Added to list at 11th Sept 2020:

 17th century. Sweater of yellow silk, with knitted patterns in purl stitches in the form of curved tulips with contours of white yarn. NM inv.nr 221941 Nordiska museets, Stockholm
https://digitaltmuseum.se/011013854472/troja-av-gult-silke-silketroja-1600-tal-nm-inv-nr-221941

17^th century - red silk jacket, knitted with a star pattern and embroidered with silver thread. Inventory no. GM:4123. Göteborgs Stadsmuseums, Sweden. http://62.88.129.39/carlotta/web/object/41562

 17^th century – Nattrøye - Norsk Folkemuseum
 https://digitaltmuseum.no/011013445120/nattroye

1600-1625 -Knitted jacket - Museo Stibbert.  Florence. Image can be found on the page at http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/workbox/extwomclo4.jpg

Mid 17th century – Vest - Purl-patterned, embroidered with gold and silver and silver spangles. Oslo Kunstindustrimuseum. Image can be found on the page at http://www.fashioningtheearlymodern.ac.uk/about/theme-5/

 

 

Embroidered jackets or waistcoats – surviving examples

Detail from the 1610-20 example at Platt Hall, Manchester

The fashion for women to wear embroidered jackets or waistcoats appears at the end of the sixteenth century and goes through to at least the middle of the seventeenth century. From the middle of the seventeenth century and on into the eighteenth the embroidered jacket or waistcoat disappears from portraiture, and the garment itself becomes an under garment worn for warmth and often quilted, though it loses its sleeves. 

The examples I link to below are by no means a complete listing, but I have put them into date order, or at least ordered by the dates the museums that hold them give for them. The dates are pretty fluid and often change depending on who is describing the item. In many cases I indicate printed sources where you can find further information.

The photographs are mine and are therefore usually taken through glass, my apologies for the quality.

1590-1630 Victoria and Albert Museum. Coloured silk embroidery on linen. A coiling deign of flowers and leaves. Melanie Braun,  'Embroidered Linen Jacket', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.2, London: V&A Publishing, 2012, pp.48-57 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O80226/jacket-unknown/

1600-1610. Museum of Fashion, Bath.  Coloured silk and metal thread embroidery on linen. A coiling pattern of flowers and leaves. I have found it difficult to find images online as the museum does not have an object search as such. https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/sites/fashion_museum/files/embroidered-waistcoat-fashion-museum-bath.jpg

1600-25. Victoria and Albert Museum. Coloured silk thread embroidery on ivory silk with a slightly, coiling, slightly interlaced design of roses, honeysuckle and other flowers. John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, p.79, plate LV. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115772/jacket-unknown/

The back of the Worthing Museum example

1600-25. Victoria and Albert Museum. Coloured silk and silver gilt thread embroidery, with spangles, on a linen fabric. A coiling design with flowers, birds and butterflies.  Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, V&A Publications, 1998, p.148 & 149 John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, p.78. Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, V&A Publications, 1998, p.148 & 149 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O15345/jacket-unknown/

1600-1615. Worthing Museum. Blackwork silk on linen. Nothing on the Worthing Museum website, though it is mentioned fleetingly here http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/architecture-and-design/art63118

1600-1620. Norwich Museums. Unmade garment. Coloured silk on linen, with a pattern of roses in circles, and borage(?) flowers. See my photograph. 

The Norwich Museums unmade example

1610-1615. Victoria and Albert Museum. The Margaret Layton jacket. Coloured silk and metal thread on linen with spangles. A coiling design of flowers fruit and insects. Thornton, Claire, 'Margaret Layton's Waistcoat', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.1, London: V&A Publishing, 2011, pp.22-33. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O11095/jacket-unknown/

1610-1615. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. Silver and gilt-silver thread embroidery on linen, with a coiling patterns of daffodils. http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/womans-jacket-116779

1610-1620. Burrell Collection, Glasgow. Coloured silk and metal thread embroidery on linen in a coiling design of flowers and insects. Janet Arnold, Patterns of fashion c.1560-1620. Macmillan, 1983. p.51 & 120-121. The link is to a short film on jacket and the Burrell’s recreation of it. http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/burrell-collection/the-collection/Pages/gilt-and-silk.aspx

1610-1620. Platt Hall Gallery, Manchester. Coloured silks on linen with spangles, and an open scrolling design of vines and grapes.   http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=2001.131

1610-20.  Museum of London. A wool thread blackwork embroidered on linen, in a pattern of barberries. Zillah Halls, Women’s costume 1600-1750, Museum of London, HMSO. 1970, p31, Plates 1 & 2.  https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/84662.html

1610-20.  Museum of London. Silk blackwork embroidery on linen with a pattern of strawberries and strawberry leaves. Zillah Halls, Women’s costume 1600-1750, Museum of London, HMSO. 1970, p31. https://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/84660.html

1610-1620. Victoria and Albert Museum.  Blue embroidery on pink silk with silver spangles, in a coiling design.  Jenny Tiramani,  'Pink Silk Waistcoat', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.1, London: V&A Publishing, 2011, pp.34-47 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O354860/waistcoat-unknown/

1615-1620. Victoria and Albert Museum. Silk blackwork embroidery on linen fabric. A coiling design of flower, animal and insect motifs. Susan North, "The Falkland Jacket: Sources, Provenance and Interpretation of an Emblematic Artifact", Emblematica, vol 14, 2005, pp.127-151. Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, London: V&A, 1998, p. 148  https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O137739/jacket-unknown/

c.1616. Metropolitan Museum, New York. Coloured silk and metal thread embroidery on a linen fabric, with a coiling design on flowers, birds and insects. http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/81132

c. 1620. Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery. Red silk embroidery on linen in a design of coiling peapods. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3e/fd/6f/3efd6f2258bad240314403c994161beb.jpg

1620-25. Victoria and Albert Museum. A silk thread blackwork embroidered on linen. A coiling design of flowers interspersed with insects and birds. Luca Costigliolo,, 'Blackwork waistcoat', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.1, London: V&A Publishing, 2011, pp.48-59 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O110094/waistcoat-unknown/

1620-1640. Victoria and Albert Museum. One panel only from a waistcoat.  Coloured silk embroidery on linen. A coiling pattern of strawberries.  John Lea Nevinson, Catalogue of English Domestic Embroidery of the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries, Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Textiles, London: HMSO, 1938, p.78 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115757/jacket-part-unknown/

1620-1625. Platt Hall Gallery of Costume, Manchester.  Black silk, blackwork on linen, with a design of strapwork bands with flower motifs between. http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=2003.66

Detail of the 1625-40 Platt Hall example

1625-1640 Platt Hall Gallery of Costume, Manchester.  Silver thread embroidery and spangles on a  linen ground with an abstract coiling design. http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=1956.64

1630-1640.  Victoria and Albert Museum. Silver thread embroidery and spangles on fustian. The design is a meandering pattern. Tiramani, Jenny, 'Fustian Waistcoat', in North, Susan and Jenny Tiramani, eds, Seventeenth-Century Women’s Dress Patterns, vol.1, London: V&A Publishing, 2011, pp.60-69 https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O101730/waistcoat-unknown/

1630-1640.  Victoria and Albert Museum. Drawn-thread-and-pulled-fabric work on linen, decorated with spangles. Hart, Avril and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, London: V&A, 1998, p. 196  https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O130595/waistcoat-unknown/

1630-1640.  Victoria and Albert Museum. Red wool embroidery on linen, with some white linen thread embroidery as well. Large very stylised floral motifs. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115768/waistcoat-unknown/

1640. Victoria and Albert Museum. Red wool embroidery on a linen warf/wool weft fabric [linsey wolsey]. Individual motifs of flowers and birds. Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries. London: V&A Publications, 1998, p.150. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O110107/waistcoat-unknown/

Detail of the painted cotton example

1670-1700. JUST TO CONFUSE EVERYONE. Not embroidered. A painted cotton calico jacket in imitation of the embroidered examples. http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=2004.93

 

1680-1720 Platt Hall Gallery of Costume. Yellow silk embroidery on linen with a design of nterlacing circular arabesques enclosing three-leaf sprigs. Museum does not have an image.  http://manchesterartgallery.org/collections/search/collection/?id=1953.64

c. 1700 Philadelphia Museum of Art. A sleeveless waistcoat, quilted with silk embroidery in a vine pattern on a cotton fabric with a linen lining. https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/89987.html?mulR=1844835644|5

c.1700 Museum of Fashion, Bath. Coloured silk embroidery on linen, quilted. A sleeveless waistcoat, with a tree of life type motif and birds resembling cranes. https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/sites/fashion_museum/files/styles/gallery_item_colorbox/public/HFx100%20ID%206%201700%20Fashion%20Museum%20Bath%20portrait%20shot.jpg?itok=b405q8za

1700s. Victoria and Albert Museum. Coloured silk embroidery on linen, quilted, with a very open design of stylised flowers. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O354306/waistcoat-unknown/

1700s Victoria and Albert Museum. One panel from a woman’s waistcoat. Coloured silk embroidery on linen, in a very open scrolling pattern.  https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O319127/waistcoat-panel-unknown/

1700-1750. Phoenix Museum of Art. A sleeveless waistcoat, coloured silk embroidery on linen with floral motifs.http://egallery.phxart.org/view/objects/asitem/items$0040:9482

1730s Glasgow Museums. A sleeveless waistcoat or underbodice, cotton quilted with white cotton thread and embroidered in coloured silk threads with stylised floral motifs.  http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/starobject.html?oid=37519