Nothing new under the sun.

[One Drop]

I saw an superb exhibition of Dutch Old Masters the other day, it was curated exceptionally well and the quality of the works on display was amazing, as was the condition of the paintings, the images leapt off of the wall and it felt as if I was dropped into the Netherlands in the mid 1500s. This was due not only to the immersive style of many of the masterpieces on view, but also how alike our times were the fashions and hairstyles of the era, for bot men and women.

Knowing the history of the modern Fedora, I was surprised to see how much resemblance there was between some of the hats on the heads of these fashionable Dutch men of the era and the Western hats of 400 years later. I had seen many of these fashions many times before but didn't look very closely nor give it much thought before I had become so interested in hats a few years ago.

The last picture is unrelated to hats but I'm sure you'll enjoy the beauty of the painting and of the woman who stood for it, she could grace a Vogue cover today and not be out of place, so 'modern' are her looks, and hairstyle.

I assume the hats were made from felt, does anyone know what kind would have been used in the hats in these paintings? They date from the mid 1500s so it's possible they were already using beaver, as the trade between the colonies in what would become the Eastern US and Canada and the Netherlands, among other European countries, was getting well under way by then, and may have contributed to the shape and construction of these beautiful hats.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I assume the hats were made from felt, does anyone know what kind would have been used in the hats in these paintings? They date from the mid 1500s so it's possible they were already using beaver, as the trade between the colonies in what would become the Eastern US and Canada and the Netherlands, among other European countries, was getting well under way by then, and may have contributed to the shape and construction of these beautiful hats.

They were made of European beaver fur felt & it was a thriving business at the time,. The hats were very expensive status symbols which only the rich could afford. The fashion reached it's peak during the reign of Charles 1st of England, (1625 - 1642) The demand was such, that by the end of the 17th century, European beavers had become practically extinct. Fortunately for the European hat makers, the North American colonies provided a new source & it is around this period that the fur trade began. The Hudson Bay Company founded in 1670, was among other things, mandated to find & exploite new sources of beaver pelts for the hat trade back in Europe. The company at it's beginnings, as part of it's promotional strategy, offered free beaver felt hats to London dignitaries, to persuade them to invest in the enterprise. Pretty much like a company today offering sports cars to potential investors.
The trade nearly wiped out the American beavers too.

 

[One Drop]

They were made of European beaver fur felt & it was a thriving business at the time,. The hats were very expensive status symbols which only the rich could afford. The fashion reached it's peak during the reign of Charles 1st of England, (1625 - 1642) The demand was such, that by the end of the 17th century, European beavers had become practically extinct. Fortunately for the European hat makers, the North American colonies provided a new source & it is around this period that the fur trade began. The Hudson Bay Company founded in 1670, was among other things, mandated to find & exploite new sources of beaver pelts for the hat trade back in Europe. The company at it's beginnings, as part of it's promotional strategy, offered free beaver felt hats to London dignitaries, to persuade them to invest in the enterprise. Pretty much like a company today offering sports cars to potential investors.
The trade nearly wiped out the American beavers too.

Thanks for the information, it's so interesting to me. As a Canadian we were taught about the fur trade and how intertwined our early history as a country was with it, but most of the information was centred around the supply side and little about the details about the actual European demand side other than the use was for the hat industry,

Predating the creation of the Hudson Bay company a great deal of trade went on between the mostly indigenous trappers and the Fur traders who dealt primarily with the Dutch at first, as early as the beginning of the 16th century, at the very first as an adjunct to the fishing industry and they already had the early distribution channels set up with Europe.

 

[BobHufford]

They look like @Joao Encarnado worthy cowboy hats.

Are these cowboys playing backgammon?

 

[One Drop]

They look like @Joao Encarnado worthy cowboy hats.

View attachment 631743

Are these cowboys playing backgammon?

Not far off, it was a closely related game called Tic Tac or Tick Tack, that was itself closely related to Trictrac that was popular in the French courts of the 17th century. Backgammon came about roughly 100 years later in England, apparently descended from a game called Irish at the time. There was no notion of capturing opponents' pieces as there was later in backgammon. Of course all of these board games descended from games first invented in Mesopotamia at least 5000 years earlier, which further illustrates the title of this thread.

I too thought of Jaoa when I saw them cowboys, LOL.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

I saw an superb exhibition of Dutch Old Masters the other day, it was curated exceptionally well and the quality of the works on display was amazing, as was the condition of the paintings, the images leapt off of the wall and it felt as if I was dropped into the Netherlands in the mid 1500s. This was due not only to the immersive style of many of the masterpieces on view, but also how alike our times were the fashions and hairstyles of the era, for bot men and women.

Knowing the history of the modern Fedora, I was surprised to see how much resemblance there was between some of the hats on the heads of these fashionable Dutch men of the era and the Western hats of 400 years later. I had seen many of these fashions many times before but didn't look very closely nor give it much thought before I had become so interested in hats a few years ago.

The last picture is unrelated to hats but I'm sure you'll enjoy the beauty of the painting and of the woman who stood for it, she could grace a Vogue cover today and not be out of place, so 'modern' are her looks, and hairstyle.

I assume the hats were made from felt, does anyone know what kind would have been used in the hats in these paintings? They date from the mid 1500s so it's possible they were already using beaver, as the trade between the colonies in what would become the Eastern US and Canada and the Netherlands, among other European countries, was getting well under way by then, and may have contributed to the shape and construction of these beautiful hats.

Art history is full of depictions of males and females with hats and hairstyles.
Here the Flemish painters mentioned and represented belong to different eras.
The first painting is from around the mid-16th century and is a sacred representation with period hats.
The portraits of the men with hats belong to a painting from a later century and was painted after 1660. The female portrait is a few years younger. The testimony of the change in habits and customs is not only in the hats, but also in the clothes and furnishings. The gentlemen represented are Flemish therefore with hats suited to the climate and fashion of the time. In other European countries the fashions were different and so were the headdresses.
What were the hats made of? Good question
I think they were made of wool and the aforementioned European beaver was on the verge of extinction.
Does anyone know the technique for forming felt used in those years and used until the nineteenth century before the use of electricity on a large scale?
Thinking about the beaver skins imported into Europe, I see them much better used for furs or headdresses, always in fur (a great sign of distinction and wealth), of which we find ample testimony in the history of ancient art.
Let's say that there is always something new under the sun both in style and in materials which are now (after about 400 years) consolidated for hats

 

[One Drop]

The biblically themed first painting was by Pieter Coecke van Aelst I (1502-1550), Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi, about 1530-1540.

The hats worn in the second were common from around 1640 on for around 30 years, I believe. Do you know the name and artist of the second one? I forgot to photograph the information for reference.

The third is entitled Portrait of a lady and is dated to 1613, so you were spot on with your datings.

The beaver fur trade was fuelled primarily for use in hats throughout Europe, those wide brim felt ones in the paintings above probably used beaver, as the trade in North American beaver pelts with the Netherlands was already well under way by then. I doubt wool or other fur felts would have maintained their shape while remaining soft and semi pliable as they were with those huge brims. You can see how fine they were in some of the paintings, and often finished with a slight sheen, I would guess impossible with wool felt. Beaver was also used for muffs, trim, and gloves, but stoles used other furs such as marten, fox and sable.

Of course fashions changed and novelty was always a feature of fashion, my title was meant loosely and somewhat facetiously.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Not to do with hats, but . . . I remember my English teacher in high school showing Zeferelli's Romeo and Juliet, and all the guys chuckling at the period clothing, the men dressed in tights. Fast forward 40 years, and everywhere I go I see both young men, and men old enough to know better*, wearing jeans so tight they are essentially stretch denim hose.
Everything old is new again at some stage.

*over 35s look like Sponge Bob Squarepants in those get-ups!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

The hats worn in the second were common from around 1640 on for around 30 years, I believe. Do you know the name and artist of the second one? I forgot to photograph the information for reference.

The third is entitled Portrait of a lady and is dated to 1613, so you were spot on with your datings.

The painter of the two groups (both on the same painting) of gentlemen with hats is Gillis van Tilborgh (circa 1625 – circa 1678)
The portrait of the woman with hairstyle and lace collar is Cornelis van der Voort (1576 – buried on 2 November 1624)

The beaver fur trade was fuelled primarily for use in hats throughout Europe, those wide brim felt ones in the paintings above probably used beaver, as the trade in North American beaver pelts with the Netherlands was already well under way by then. I doubt wool or other fur felts would have maintained their shape while remaining soft and semi pliable as they were with those huge brims. You can see how fine they were in some of the paintings, and often finished with a slight sheen, I would guess impossible with wool felt. Beaver was also used for muffs, trim, and gloves, but stoles used other furs such as marten, fox and sable.

Of course fashions changed and novelty was always a feature of fashion, my title was meant loosely and somewhat facetiously.

I am very unconvinced that imported beaver pelts were used as felt for hats, but everyone has their own opinions on the raw materials used in the mid-1600s as components for making hats.
Wool is often lustrous when used as felt with some small percentage of fur in the felt mix. Regarding the possibility of wool felt having shape and consistency, I am convinced of the opposite. This is also a personal opinion and I have very little information from the mid-1600s.
These are opinions on felt that we can discuss for days and in the heat that surrounds me I sweat just thinking about it

 

[steur]

Early hats were probably made from the same materials current hats are made of: wool and/or hair, either from beaver or other animals. In this article I found from 1799, discussing the use of stiffening agents before they discoverd shellac could be used for that, there is mention of "... die het hair of bever bederft..."

Below is a hat saved from a ship that sank off the coast of the Netherlands in the early 17th century. The contemporary look of the shape is noteworthy, but it looks to me as being made of hair.

Also worth a read, although the facsimile type will make your eyes water and it's written in German, is this booklet with the rules governing the hatmakers guild. Published in 1708 it mentions (on page 492 - it was part of a larger publication) hats "von Biber-haaren verfertigte, nennet man Castor-hüte, die andere die nur von Cameel oder Caninigen-haar, oder auch gar von purer Wolle seyn..." . So all materials were used and beaver was among them, for the most expensive ones. As far as I know the publication doesn't mention of these were imported beaver pelts or indiginous.

 

[One Drop]

Keep it coming guys, very interesting stuff!

I do know that the earliest trade in beaver pelts from N. America was to the Netherlands, by all accounts.

 

[shopkin]

The fur trade with North America didn't really take off until the European beaver had been severely depleted. The Norwegians traded metal objects to native Americans for beaver pelts. The availability of pelts combined with better fishing for North Atlantic cod from the Grand Banks made it worth the trouble to travel all the way across the ocean.

 

[Denton]

The portrait of a lady with the enormous 3-layer lace collar doesn't seem like a good example of a fashion that repeats. Same thing with the (also enormous) square collars worn by the men. Northern Europe in the seventeenth century may have taken the collar as far as it can go in a certain direction. We may never see collars like that again.

Some of the hats do resemble modern western hats. Interesting!