{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1758704"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1758704/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NV6011/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NV6011/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NV6011","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6010","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6009","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6008","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6013","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6012","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6014","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2024NV6015","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1758704/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1758704","accessionNumber":"T.85-2023","objectType":"Smoking cap","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Decorative ‘pill box’ shaped smoking caps became part of the British male wardrobe from the later 1850s. The style may  have developed partly in response to the growing fashion for smoking Turkish cigarettes introduced by men returning from  the Crimean War of 1854-6, but it was probably also a novel alternative to practical nightcaps and other forms of warm  headwear often worn indoors. Possibly also inspired by the ‘fez’ worn in Eastern Mediterranean countries and North Africa, the short cylindrical construction of the smoking cap was an easy style for an amateur needlewoman to reproduce and  embellish at home. Fashion plates suggest that a smoking cap  worn with a sumptuous velvet dressing gown in a domestic setting was as essential as a top hat and frock coat in the public world of business.\r\n\r\nIn wealthy and middle class homes it was customary for men to withdraw after dinner to smoke (whether cigars, cigarettes, or pipes) in a separate room. They would replace their coats with a special smoking jacket or a dressing gown, worn with  cap or slippers, for comfort, ambience, and possibly to prevent the smell of smoke infusing the hair and everyday clothes. In contrast to the uniformly dark wool tailoring worn by urban men, smoking jackets, slippers and caps were often made from colourful, tactile and warm fabrics. Smoking caps and slippers were popular gifts, made and personalized by a family member with embroidered patterns, many of which were published in magazines and needlecraft instruction books,  sometimes imitating styles of embroidery from India or other cultures. The pattern on this example is based on familiar flowers from the English countryside, and possibly reflects the increasing popularity of the Arts and Crafts style of embroidery.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Round 'pill box' shaped cap in black wool embroidered in coloured silks on the crown with a circular motif of rosebuds and small five-petalled flowers in white, yellow and green, and a matching border around the upstand of the cap.\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool","id":"x40131"},{"text":"silk thread","id":"x30127"}],"techniques":[{"text":"hand embroidery","id":"x30339"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wool and silk thread.","categories":[{"text":"Hats and headwear","id":"THES48943"},{"text":"Embroidery","id":"THES48960"},{"text":"Men's clothes","id":"THES49043"},{"text":"Smoking accessories","id":"THES49036"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2024NV6011","2024NV6010","2024NV6009","2024NV6008","2024NV6013","2024NV6012","2024NV6014","2024NV6015"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES385808"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cap","id":"AAT46094"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1870-90","earliest":"1870-01-01","latest":"1890-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Bequeathed by Jennifer Bloor","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"17","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"16/07/2024","earliest":"2024-07-16","latest":"2024-07-16"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"16/07/2024","earliest":"2024-07-16","latest":"2024-07-16"},"part":"upstand","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"20","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"16/07/2024","earliest":"2024-07-16","latest":"2024-07-16"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This smoking cap has always been associated with Louis Lipscombe (1845-1898), the donor's wife Jennifer's great-great grandfather. Lipscombe apparently came from Huguenot descent and, according to the 1881 census ran a building firm in Walthamstow employing 45 men, one boy and three apprentices. The cap was possibly worked by Martha  Lipscombe who married Louis in 1874.\r\n\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Smoking cap, wool embroidered in coloured silks, worn by Louis Lipscombe and probably made by Martha Lipscombe, his wife. 1870-90","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.85-2023"],"accessionNumberNum":"85","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":2023,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-19","recordCreationDate":"2023-07-11","availableToBook":true}}