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Historic Costume | Fine and Decorative Arts
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Top Hat
Clothing/Dress/Costume
Man’s half-high top hat of black fur felt. The crown is almost 6” high and a bit narrower at the top; thin, flat 3” brim bound with black silk, very slightly tipped up at the side edges. Black grosgrain ribbon hatband tied in a knot at the side. Inside is a dark brown leather sweatband, the top edges threaded with a wide silk ribbon. Brown glazed lining cotton in the sides; the top may be the same but the hat has been subject to mildew and it is hard to tell. A gold stamped label nearly fills the top, consisting of a wide diamond border surrounding a small oval cartouche beneath a crossed pair of leaf-scroll branches, reading “Modes de Paris.”
G2009.023
Bruce and Susan Greene Costume Collection
Adult, Male
Headwear
Historic Costume
Top Hat
Male
Fur
Animal Hair
felt
leather
Glazed Cotton
Black
1830 - 1840
Makers Mark
Inside Top
“Modes de Paris”
French
Stamped
6 in