Embroidered Linen Coif

Embroidered linen coif, Britain, early 17th century. Embroidered linen coif, Britain, early 17th century. Copyright Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, acc. no. 64.101.1258.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York houses an intricately embroidered linen coif from Britain, made in the early seventeenth century. It measures 22.9 x 43.2 cm, and the embroidery is worked in silk and silver-gilt thread, together with spangles.

The decoration consists of rinceaux patterns, which are characterised by birds, flowers and insects with scrolling vines. These patterns, according to curatorial information, were popular in England in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. These patterns, when exported to South Asia, may have helped in the development of the Indian chintzes in the late seventeenth century.

See also the Needles entry on an Elizabethan embroidered coif, housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art online catalogue (retrieved 1 December 2016).

WV

Last modified on Wednesday, 15 March 2017 12:44