Hoed van vilt, donkerbruin tot zwart c. 1610 - 1670

This dark brown to black hat, made of felt, was created by an anonymous artist at an unknown date. Hats are, of course, closely connected with social identity, signifying profession, class, and occasion. Consider the cultural associations conjured up by this particular hat. Is it a military hat, suggestive of the theater of war? Is it a civilian hat, an object of bourgeois life? The damage to the hat might even signify a change in the social order. To understand more, we might research millinery in different eras, reading trade publications, fashion magazines, museum archives, and social histories. Historians of dress study such things to explore the social and cultural meanings of clothing. This hat reminds us that even apparently simple objects can be understood through deeper knowledge of their social and institutional context.