A Tale of Two Coifs

Today I'm back at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow.

I wasn't lying when I said they house an amazing needlework collection.  

Though there were many coifs on display as part of the Gilt and Silk exhibition, I chose two of my favorites to share here today.

The first piece is linen with silk and silver-gilt threads circa 1610-1620 and is part of a coif.  

A coif was a woman's close-fitting cap usually worn at home or under a hat when out in public.

This design incorporated four red carnations.

 The Greek word for carnation is dianthus which means "heavenly flower"...

I thought I had captured all four flowers but I'm missing one.  

Here's a good close-up of two different types of leaves.  I'm particularly fond of the vein in the bottom leaf...

This second coif took my breath away when I first saw it.

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I've always loved silver and gold together and this piece is exquisite...

It still holds much of its lustre and allure even though it was made over 400 years ago...

The size is approx. 25cm x 45cm.

Another element of its appeal is the number of goldwork stitches used throughout.  I love these two strawberry motfis...

And it looks like another "heavenly flower" is on this coif as well...

The design also included pea pods. 

The visibility of the seeds was suggestive of courtship and fertility.

Perhaps, if you've been lucky enough to have been a student of Tricia Wilson Nguyen's Goldwork Master Class, you may recognize some of the stitches?

I do have pictures of some other coifs from the exhibit.  I'll let you know when I get them loaded up on my Flickr account.

Have a brilliant day everyone.