Saturday, March 15, 2014

A Visit to the Met



I know many of us who study late 16th/early 17th Century clothing have seen this painting. It's from the 1630's. The old women is a Gypsy fortune teller as are the two ladies to the left of the painting. The couple in the middle are your typical German couple from the time. What I haven't noticed before is the amazing detail in the Gypsies' garments!

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The blanket worn over the other clothing is a jacquard weave. You can really tell in this close up. Also notice the knife the old lady carries for protection. Where the heck is it hanging from?!? The younger Gypsy ladies clothing is even more interesting.

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I wanted to get a close up the necklines with this photo. Take a look a the loose weave kerchief/partlet around the lady in the back's neck. These ladies are also wearing the thick blanket (jacquard/tapestry) as we see typical of Gypsies at this time period.

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In this close up, you can see the lady closest to us' cap. Also, the lady further away has a very unusual hairstyle. I love the front braids just twirled up like that!

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The scarletwork and goldwork on her chemise suggests that these Gypsies were anything but poor. I just really adored the details in this painting. It's a bit out of the typical SCA period but we also know that the Gypsy/Roma fashion didn't change quite as quickly as Western European fashion at the time. You can see several similar examples of Gypsy fashion well within the pre -17th century constraints.



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