The Good Womans Champion

or A Defence For The Weaker Vessel. Booklet printed in London by Francis Grove in 1650 that picks out passages from the Bible in praise of women. This is followed in the second part by a dialogue between a wife and a bad husband who really isn’t interested and is obviously not listening to his nagging wife! Anyway, the picture on the cover shows two women flanking a guy in the middle. The women are dressed smartly with waistcoat, petticoat, lace edged kerchief and aprons. The woman on the right has a brimmed felt hat and the one on the left some kind of amorphous fabric cap. The man in the middle, a coat over doublet and breeches with spurred long boots.

What Will You Have? A Calfe With A White Face

Satyrical pamphlet from 1649. I think the calf represents new protestant sects coming from Europe, but I could be wrong, the satire is a bit too veiled to see through it from the 21st Century, though if anyone knows for sure…

Still what we have here is a nice little group of gentlemen in their smart end of the decade clothes, short tabbed doublets, felt hats, darted bands on their collars, tightly cut breeches and latchet shoes. The gent on the left has a jauntily cocked hat and an off the shoulder cloak, boots and spurs.

Kitchen and Cream

Two more images from The Manner of Crying Things in London 1640 that show to me that some women at least of a lower status weren’t wearing bodies to give them the fashionable straight lined body shape. I guess it was cheaper and probably more comfortable if you were carrying things on your head! Notice also that these street vendors have decorated their linen with lace. Some lace was very cheap in the 1640s.

Stripping, Whipping and Pumping

Pamphlet published in 1638 by John Taylor. A scurrilous story of a woman scorned and what she and her friends did to the woman in Covent Garden who had spent a night with her husband. What is really interesting is that this picture seems to be the original woodcut that was used in the Discovery of Six Women Preachers” that I blogged about previously. The story even mentions a serving boy who goes for a bowl and razor who features in the bottom left hand corner. Sadly the image is incomplete as the top part is covered by a scale, but it’s obvious that this is the original, there are no alterations in the woodcut and the image makes more sense in the context of this story. Nice costume details on the women’s petticoats too. The woman on the right wears a simple petticoat with bodies joined to the skirts, whilst the two on the left wear waistcoats over the top. The poor woman being whipped in the centre has a petticoat with separate skirts, or at least one where the body can be easily detached. Good selection of pointed coifs too.

Barnabies Summons

or Paie your Groat in the Morning. Satirical single sheet publication on the dangers of drink printed in London in 1652. Barnaby was a proverbial name for a drunkard and he is definitely the worse for wear, being comforted by a fox after a long night. He is fashionably dressed though for the early 1650s, with a short doublet under which you can see his shirt and ribbon decoration at the bottom of his unconfined breeches. Nice rosettes on his shoes and notice the detail of the construction of his cap.

The Honorable History of Frier Bacon and Frier Bungay

As it was lately plaid by The Prince Palatine, his servants. A comedy by Robert Green set in the time of Edward I. Printed in London by Jane Bell in 1655 It’s not Shakespeare, but I liked the picture on the front cover. It’s a bit unclear, the woodcut isn’t the best quality, but the musician who seems to be putting the guys on the right to sleep seems to be wearing a knitted monmouth cap with a button on the top

A Pack of Knaves

Etching by Hollar, after, or very similar to some Abraham Bosse french engravings. Published between 1636 and 1644 there are some interesting costume details here, though not strictly English, I thought they were good enough to show here.

The Busye. Well to do couple in possible late 1630s style. Quality bodice with balloon sleeves for M’Lady and laced doublet and falling band for her escort.

The Overdoo. I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing with the syringe, but quality paned doublet with cutwork falling band and simple clothes for the woman whose coif looks almost Tudor. Maybe a French influence?

The Damee. This rascal is dressed as the archetypal cavalier, down at heel and just a bit ragged.

The Swillbottle. Interestingly this chap seems to be in his underpants, though this is the only image I’ve ever seen of something like this. Maybe a monmouth cap on his head? Good close up of a shirt opening, something you don’t often see in images.

Sweetlipps. A serving man, cloth over his arm and a smart livery coat and plain band. Is that a pineapple or an artichoke?

A mere scullion, with a knitted cap that in older days would have been called a Statute Cap. Another shirt worn without a doublet and a cook’s apron.

The Graceless. Smart suit and plain band, but check out the ribbons on his breeches and the boot hose worn with shoes.

The Fflye. He wears a peakless montero cap. Not sure if they were ever worn in England but they appear in at least two Bosse engravings.

The Sleplove. Paned doublet and cutwork falling band with bandstrings.

Pepper and Puddle

From John Taylor’s booklet of 1643, this picture shows a group of obvious royalists on the left, (long hair, sword baldricks, boots) and a stereotypical group of roundheads (short hair, shoes, tabbed doublets) on the right, goading their dogs to attack each other. Nick Poyntz has blogged about the text and I would recommend you read it, link here, for the background to this image.

A Diary of the Siege of Colchester

Broadsheet printed in June 1648. Like the famous engraving of Naseby, this shows the siege works about the town and lists the forces in action. There are a few details worth picking out.

Here a church to the east has been surrounded with earthworks.

And here are a few regiments formed up on the ground to the west. Pretty close to where the railway line goes now!

On the title plaque there is an interesting selection of musical instruments.

The Thames at Richmond With the Old Royal Palace

A little out of period, this picture was painted probably 10 or 20 years prior to the 1640 by an unknown artist, but the clothes worn by the group of  morris dancers and the watchers show the kind of common garments that are only seen for the period in continental paintings. There is very little of this kind of thing from England. The picture is © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and you can find more about it by following this link.

In this detail you can see the dancers are wearing breeches and shirts only, but still keeping their hats on. Must have been a nice hot day! The woman dancer has an early rebato type collar with a linen coif on her head. Notice her petticoat is short enough to allow her to dance. The clothes are old fashioned, particularly the breeches, but not completely out of period for 1640s.