Cornwallis' Advance on Yorktown

In the summer of 1781 the British troops were advancing towards Williamsburg.  Just across the river from Jamestown is a plantation known as Smiths Fort (built in the early 17th century with some evidence still visible).  It's owner, Mr. Faulcon, was a patriot who helped the troops by allowing them to stay on his land after the British burned much of Cobhams Wharf.  I went out to show the shoemaking trade.

It's a beautiful museum inside- one of Virginias hidden treasures.

Mr. Balances coat I made up this week- based on the unlined extant at CWF.  The Virginia cloth used was very easy to work with, and very light!  The front has facings to cover the buckram layers and the back has a small section up at the shoulders to finish the collar, but the rest is unlined.

The Faulcons out for a light picnic (Bryan Kennedy and Taylor Shelby).

Dinner on Sunday was fresh corn and fish breaded with cornmeal and grits.  The day before we had a ham and vegetable stew.  Of course, there was plenty of bread, cheese, fruit, and spirits to go around as well!

I finished my new summer round gown just in time.  It's from B&Ts figured muslin (white with a tiny red stripe).  I made it unlined, based on a 1785 muslin gown at the Met Museum.

The kerchief is cotton lawn, on which I still need to put a few more tucks at the edges.  The hat is based on images like this and this.

Thank you to Kelsey Freeman for taking my picture!

There was, of course, shooting.  Although no one thought to bring any ammunition, so those turkeys we scared up in back of the house got away.

I just wanted to add this photo Wilson Freeman shot of me working on Saturday- it's just too beautiful!

Bonnets 2

I've come across twenty other images of bonnets recently, of three different styles.  There's the pouf top, the poke bonnet I posted about recently, and a conical shape.  I found evidence that the cone shape was in Salzburg, Austria in 1731, so I'm trying to find "missing links" backwards and forwards as it were.  There's also this image of a Salzburg refugee with the poke bonnet style.

A Decoy for the Old, 1773

The Amorous Counsellor, 1777

Pot Fair. Cambridge, 1777

Palemon and Lavina, 1787

Miss Macaroni, 1773

The School of Eloquence, 1780

Margaret Nicholson, 1786

A View of the Parade at Bath, 1785

Margt. Nicholson, 1786

The Recruiting Serjeant, 1786

They Are All Together Lighter, 1780

May Day, 1780

Sweet Echo, 1781

The Pleasures of a Single Life, 1773

Monstrous Craws, 1787

An Opera Girl of Paris, 1773

Lady Fenoulhet, 1770

A Cremonese Lady, 1776

 At a Concert, 1780

The Highland Laddie, 1793

New Style Bonnet

So, I know the silk bonnet has recently caught on, and original images of it seem to be popping up everywhere.  However, when I was looking through, I came across this other style I'm quite curious about. It's almost like a poke bonnet.  I've only found three images of it, possibly two others of a slightly different style. I'm throwing out a fishing line to see if any of you have come across any other images in your wanderings before I begin to dig.

The first one is definitely from straw.  Distinctly like the early 19th century poke bonnets.  And it's dated 1782!

Ensign Rosebud 

This one is harder to tell if it's straw or silk covered, but the trimming is very similar to the bonnet above. Dated to 1786, so a little later.

Old Wheat Sheaf

In the upper left of the image you can see another lady with a black bonnet, again of the shape above.  It's certainly covered in fabric, but has that same conical shape with structured back.  From 1775.

A Society of Patriotic Ladies

This earlier one (1774) has similarities in shape to those above, but since it's from the front it's hard to tell.  It's not quite like the bonnets we see made today, the top appearing structured with pleated fabric rather than poofed.

The Invitation

This one is from 1794, later than the period I'm really trying to find.  However, it has a similar appearance.  The brim seems shorter and more acutely angled.

Autumn

The last image is of an extant bonnet.  Now, the Museum of Fine Arts doesn't note anything about the date (anyone know who to harass for that, since they mention knowing provenance?).  We can tell it's prior to 1899 since it was donated then, but that doesn't say much.  I don't know enough about hats of the 19th century to know if it would fit in anywhere else (any ideas??).  However, it bears resemblance to the bonnets of the late 18th century.

MFA Silk Bonnet

Bonnets

While the bonnet is considered the hat of the early 19th century, it has some very distinct roots earlier on.  I found images starting in 1772, consistently appearing until the turn of the century.  A single image from 1740 also appears to show a very bonnet-like hat, a bit different than it's later cousins, but certainly not the plain straw hat often seen.  Another from 1765 is much more like the images below.  There is a much larger variety of sizes, shapes, and trims than I expected to find.  Black does seem to be the most common, but white is also very popular with the more fashionable sort.  Although I've seen pictures of brown, blue, pink, lime green, and even straw!  The basic form seems to be universally worn by all classes.
The biggest problem, however, is the distinct lack of extant examples.  I found only two, very different in style.  I wouldn't be surprised if there were more out there improperly dated to the 19th century, but fortunately the bonnet's popularity is quickly increasing and there may be better research to be had upon it in the near future.

Old Macaroni Miss-led, 1772

A Ladie's Maid Purchasing a Leek, 1772

An Evenings Invitation, 1773

The Invitation, 1774

A Call to the Unconverted, 1774

Is this my Daughter Ann, 1774

Twelve Fashionable Head-dresses of 1775

The Young Mendicant, 1776

The Lover's Disguise, 1776

Miss Tipapin, 1779

The Liberty of the Subject, 1779

A Lady in Waiting, 1780

The Bird of Paradise, 1781

Ensign Rosebud, 1782

Reapers, George Stubbs 1785 

 Haymakers, George Stubbs 1785

 The Fortune Teller, 1789

Extants
Black silk hat, dated late 18th-early 19th, appears very much like Ensign Rosebud or The Invitation
Black silk hat, 1770-80

Pennsylvania Gazette Index of Bonnets
Two other museum images here and here.