Stunning antique French coiffe or head dress! This wonderful white bonnet likely dates to the late 18th to early 19th Century and it is a real authentic beauty! This coiffe is made with a delicate, almost tissue like, thin white cotton. The brim which was made to surround the face is transparent in sections where the fabric does not overlap, and has a starched feel. The part of the fabric that would cover the head has many hundreds of tiny little pleats or folds which would have been painstakingly hand made. This bonnet would likely have had ties for securing this cap with a bow under the chin, these appear to be tucked into the pocket hem that would be at the back of the head on this head dress. Bonnets or coiffes as they are called in French (translates to headdress) were important to daily dress of women all over Europe throughout the centuries. In times passed in France and other nations of the world, the hair of women was considered to be the den of demons so it was believed a good, pious woman should cover her hair. The look of the bonnet however, was dictated by style and occasionally by tradition, as in mourning. In some traditions at wedding ceremonies, a woman would be required to tie her bonnet under her chin after the wedding as the couple was leaving the church to symbolize her submission to the conjugal agreement. These traditional European headdresses come in many shapes and sizes some more elegant and others more utilitarian, but they are all unique in their own way!
~*~ ( B9 )