Plaited Straw Hat

Hat of indeterminate vintage

It's a completely hand-plaited, hand-sewn hat. Shaped free-hand. The plait is 7-strand "Dunstable" (except not really, because it's quarter-split rye instead of whole straws, but I used the "over 1, under 2" plait). There's about 12 yards of plait in in, and on the order of 40-50 hours work. 

The year is a bit open-ended. I had intended it to have a very shallow crown, similar to one I saw in a Bruegel painting (almost flat, but very slightly convex--suffice to say, that attempt got rapidly out of hand). And while most of my sources do point to 16th century for early examples of plaited straw hats in Europe, they seem to have picked up more in England in the 17th century. However, the splits are a more recent innovation, supposedly dating to the early 18th century, but rapidly multiplying in form and use from the early 19th.  I could use it for working-class, rural 19th century summer-wear, though what little documentation I've found for such humble items suggests a flatter shape would be more likely.

I'll be talking about this project (and a ton of research done along the way), this Saturday at the Fort Nisqually virtual program.