Bonnet

Unknown

1895–96 · linen · Costume Institute

Simple cotton or linen bonnets were routinely worn at home by lower and middle-class women. The ingenious shape and cut of this whitework bonnet allows it to button together to form an attractive shape with a flounce at the back, but to lie flat when unbuttoned. The flat cut would have greatly simplified washing and pressing, which was by far the most laborious and time-consuming domestic chore prior to the adoption of the electric washing machine.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1895–96

Medium

linen

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Alice Pentlarge Kleeman in memory of Mrs. Rafael Pentlarge, 1957