Journal Entry 2 - Japanese Kimonos

"1 blew silk Japon men gowne 02:10:00" NY

The total count for Japanese robes is up to 7, in three probate inventories plus one store inventory as they were for sale. One is European or American made because it is lined with "say" fabric, the others are the right materials e.g. silk and colors e.g. red or blue or muted or padded which is a bells a whistles kimono to have been imported form Japan, or were part of a group of Asian objects. Though for those gowns not labeled as being specifically "Japan" or "Japon" it is difficult to know just how many are really in inventories. 

Notes:

Japanese kimonos were being imported to Europe starting in 1641. When I believe 20 or so were shipped back to the Netherlands that year. 

What does this mean? What does this say about the society in the 17th Century? 

Sometimes it can be difficult to interpret items in inventories. These kimonos tied in with the earlier Japanese sword, the porcelain figurines, porcelain people, along with the items from China which included those fabulous small red earthen tea pots also called Yixing / Zisha pots, points to a subset culture within the province. Then there are the fans... but what kind is unknown. 

The robe is present in both Manhattan and in Albany, and seems to be demonstrate an interest in the far east, specifically Japan and Malaysia and nations within this area. The red ginger in an inventory speaks to this. How this information will play out is unknown. 

One thing is clear, they were here and being worn as even one of the estate owners had his painting with one on in the correct color and the shoulders are dead on for the correct shape. So, that would actually make 8. 

17th Century Japanese robes are the opposite in shape to the Banyan which is fitted with fitted sleeves. The 17th Century Japane robe is wide, with wide sleeves, and often padded for winter, but also not buttoned and tied with a sash... usually Ottoman or Indian style sash by men, and belts by women.  

Maybe this points to a culture of sophistication rather than elegance, books are common along with prints of the far east, so globalism or worldliness seems to be both an interest and possibly a passion. A few inventories reflect people immersing themselves in a semi-Asian appropriation of culture. 

Normally we think of the 18th Century as a time for enlightenment, what does the presence of an outward looking mindset or worldliness imply about 17th Century New York? 

Notes to self, get a Yixing / Zisha pot. 

Thank YOU !

Thank you to everyone who attended the Vikings in New York talk and the packed room for the Four Yellow Love Drawers. Who knew so many people were so curious to learn what Love Drawers were!

A number of people asked if a book was available... A guide to the often funny but also saucy history of 16th and 17th century drawers is on its way. Packed with primary sources, and I am working on getting the images in place for publication. Fingers crossed copy rights go well!

I am also sourcing a pattern maker. The goal would be to provide patterns based on the drawers that were available in 16th Century and the ones brought over and worn in New York during the 17th and 18th Century.

For those who have not heard, I am moving to Europe for a few years while I do some research and writing. The blog will continue. The original goal was to do roughly 12 post for one year to get primary sources out into the hands of the average reader...but it has been evolving and the requests for speaking engagements and a book has encouraged extending the blog further.

Thank you to Lee at Boston History Camp, YOU are AWSOME ! And to all my readers for checking in each month from around the world !

Drawers for Men and Women

"Four Yellow Love Drawers" - 1685

I have thought for sometime on how to broach the topic of underwear as I have found out the hard way that there are many established ideas on what was and wasn't. However, the story of how "underbeeches" and what were later called drawers came to be actually reflects just how human we all are.

When Wina who was from the province of Horn in the Netherlands arrived in America, she was a whip of a business woman. She had to have known her market as she arrived with an extensive list of exotic goods from the east. She opened her shop right next to her husband's doctoring practice. With side by side storefronts, everything in their lives seems to have been intimate. Her wares were so numerous they spilled over into his office with porcelain stacked on shelves on the walls. Wina's wardrobe was no different as it included 5 work day suits, a fine suit in silk and a number of calico gowns plus over 50 fontages and headbands. But it is the four yellow drawers in silk that let us peek into the lives of those in 17th Century New York. Her husband an apparently reserved person in comparison only owned 2 capes, 2 black or gray suits and a dressing gown... plus 7 pairs of drawers that range from linen to silk. In one chest, there was even a blue and white feather. The couples of New York even if reserved on the outside as was Wina's husband, or spectacular on the outside as was Wina herself... all seem to keep something special and dare I say flirtatious in the marriage.

Wina and her husband were not alone, while most of the 112 drawers that have shown up in the the 28 inventories referenced are linen, there is also the saucier side.

Due to the PG nature of this blog we'll have to skip the naughty bits... but I am looking forward to my presentation at Boston History Camp this Saturday.


[ Since publishing in the last few weeks the number of drawers has gone up to 128 from 33 inventories during the same time period 1630-1720s. These were men's clothes inventories, windows are doing a great job of keeping any and all their clothing out of inventories. July 18, 2018 ]