Head protector

Unknown

18th century · [no medium available] · Costume Institute

When children were learning to walk they wore padded crowns to protect their tender heads from harm if they fell. The caps were made of rings of horsehair covered with leather or fabric and trimmed with colored ribbons. In England, these caps were called "puddings" because of their shape. According to A. Varron, a costume historian, the term "in pudding and pinner [pinafore]" was a metaphor expressing extreme youth.

Artist

Unknown

Date

18th century

Medium

[no medium available]

Culture

probably Swiss

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Dewitt Clinton Cohen, 1939