Speldenmuts - pin caps from The Netherlands

 

I saw this pin cap at Luton Museum (Wardown House Gallery and Museum) and was fascinated by the row of tiny pins around the lace. I was interested to know whether they were just there for decoration or had a practical use. I’ve since been doing some research and found that these caps are part of the regional costume from the south west region of Brabant in the Netherlands.

                                

The caps have a large crown, gathered on to a strip of lace or fabric, attached to linen ties to secure the cap. These ties would have been pulled tight and tied in a bow at the nape of the neck to keep the crown in place so that it would have kept the wearer’s hair off her face and neatly covered. In most of the caps I have seen the crown area is finely embroidered although whether this was common or only the highly decorated ones have survived I don’t know.

                           

The front part of the cap is made up of a border with a wide scallop sewn from fine lawn edged with lace or entirely of lace. It is attached to the strip of fabric that holds the crown with fine pleats. In many examples the lace seems to be of the Lille type with a wide area of open net with occasional tallies and a floral border along the edge outlined with a thicker gimp thread.

The defining feature of all the caps is the row of pins fixed closely together to make a band of shining silver down the centre of the lappet. Some sources say the pins are copper others say they are stainless steel but so far I have only seen the silver-coloured steel ones. The examples I’ve found in museums all date from the nineteenth century, however some are from the early part and others from the end of the century, reinforcing the theory that these caps were items of regional dress that were kept and reused possibly by different generations, rather than fashion wear that changes over time. As for my original question about the pins, all the sources I’ve seen suggest the pins were decorative and were added to give sparkle to the caps and had no functional use at all.

Hollie point: an English needlelace

 

At first sight hollie point lace resembles other needle-made laces, however this particular style of fine, flat, white lace incorporating designs of religious motifs, made up of small holes in a grid-like pattern seems to be uniquely English. It was used particularly to trim christening robes and a circular medallion of the lace was often inserted in the crown of christening caps. The image below comes from Margaret Simeon’s book The history of lace and shows the typical panel and medallion inserted in an early 18th century christening cap; the edging is Valenciennes bobbin lace.

Hollie point was made from about 1720 until the early 19th century. The name hollie point is a corruption of holy point and the term was originally used to denote any type of church lace, but by the early 18th century the name exclusively referred to the style of lace we are looking at here. The patterns are all geometric and include religious symbols such as the Holy dove, the crown of glory, and the tree of knowledge. They were thought to have a protective function in warding off evil and keeping the child who wore them safe.

The hollie point stitch is basically a buttonhole stitch with an extra twist, worked over a horizontal thread. The example here was an exercise in working the holes and was made in crochet cotton, so it was easier to see the stitches and their placement. It was worked on a backing with an outlining cordonnet secured round the square shape to provide an outline from which to work the rows of stitches. The examples above give an idea of how attractive these designs could be, even though they are worked on a simple grid. Many antique pieces also include dates and initials adding a touch of social history to these lovely designs.