Elizabethan Geek

Subject:	English townswomen (sketch)
Artist:	Lucas de Heere
Date:	1570
Source of image:	Add. Ms. 28330, British Museum http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/gallery/middle-wmn.html
Uploaded by:	KatRowberd
Upload time:	2003-08-20 09:15:19

Reviews

Review by:

KatRowberd

This sketch by the Dutchman Lucas de Heere shows four townswomen of modest social status. The one on the right appears to be a fishwife (I can't read the writing near her head, but I recall someone else saying so) and the other three are burgesses or merchants wives or daughters.

The first woman (on the left) wears a light-coloured gown, slightly fitted in the torso area but without a waistline. It has elbow-length sleeves puffed at the top and fitted at the bottom. The gown is decorated with bands of black fabric running down the centre front opening, around the hem, and diagonally on the sleeves. The fastening at the front of the gown is not visible, but it fastens from the upper bust area down to the waist. There is a black collar which is turned down. Under the gown she wears a kirtle of a light colour, with a guard of darker fabric around the hem. The sleeves of her kirtle (probably detachable) are close fitting and striped in bands about 1/2" in width. Over the gown she wears an extremely sheer rectangular apron, which does not appear to be gathered at the waist. Her shirt has a very high collar with a modest ruff, and there are also smaller ruffs at the sleeves. On her head she wears a complex layered arrangement of a wired coif and linen cap. At her throat, just near the opening of the gown, is something which may be a flower.

The second woman wears a black gown of similar design to the first woman, though it is fuller in the skirt and has long sleeves and a fur collar. Under it you can see a forepart of brocade (probably silk) with black guards around the hem. Her fuller skirts are held in their conical shape by a spanish farthingale. Her ruff is worn slightly open. Her hat is some kind of wired coif with distinct horizontal points. There is something by her left hand - perhaps a purse. Around her waist is a belt which looks like it might be made of metal. The belt, black gown, fuller skirts, and brocade forepart suggest that this woman is wealthier than the first one.

The third woman is dressed very much like the first. We can't see much of her, but she seems to be wearing a gown, striped undersleeves and wired coif similar to the first woman. Her ruff is as high as the first woman's, but worn open.

The fourth woman is dressed very differently. She is of a lower social class, and wears an outfit similar in many ways to the Flemish peasant clothes shown in market scenes by Beuckalaer and other such artists. She wears a gown laced in front over a kirtle with long sleeves (note that the lacing is closer than many Flemish examples), a shirt with a high ruff, a rectangular white linen apron, a neckercheif (shawl-like arrangement made of a square of linen pinned at the throat) a chinclout (another piece of linen wrapped around her lower face, presumably to filter the dust and dirt and bad smells of the streets), and a tall hat with a flat-topped crown and shaped brim. You can see a coif underneath the tall hat. She carries a small basket on her left arm, with a linen cloth draped over the contents. There is something in her right hand but it's hard to tell what - perhaps a dead bird (chicken?) held by its legs? The dead chicken is probably not a dress accessory ;)