Bizarre refers to the period during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries when Europeans were fascinated by the Near and Far East, due to the large quantities of imports arriving in the country. All areas of the decorative arts were influenced including textiles. Many silk designs of this short period 1695-1720 show the influence of Chinese, Japanese and Turkish design. In turn some of these silks would be sent by ship to the Coromandal Coast in the South-East of India where the printers and dyers would copy or interpret them onto cotton which would be glazed (chintz) to then be exported back to Europe. In the 18th century a quarter of the VOC (The United East Indies Company) was in Zeeland trading in spices, tea, coffee, saltpeter, porcelain and textiles. Around 1750 28 % of their trade was in textiles increasing to 32 % by the end of the century. Much of this trading was in Asia and Africa. Of the fabrics that reached the Netherlands chintz was the most important and much in demand by the fashionable towns folk. Eventually they created workshops on the Coromandel Coast where they could control the production of the chintz workers. Laws were introduced in France (1686) and England (1700 ) to prohibit the importation of chintz and to protect the European silk weavers. This did not stop the fabrics popularity. Smuggling was rife.The Netherlands did not have these restrictions so large amounts entered the Dutch ports. These two bergere hats were in the collection of Han van den Broeke who was a fine artist and an expert on the regional dress Zeeland. He had been a collector of local dress from an early age and was the Founding director of the Walcheren Costume Society and conservator of the consevator of the Schotse Huizen ( The Scottish Houses) in Veere.The Scottish Houses were originally the homes of scottish wool merchants in the 16 th century making Veere their Dutch base. Den Broeke was the collaborator on the standard work The Zeeland Traditional Dress 1800 - 2000 pub 2005. The chintz may well be early than I have stated. The Zeeuws Museum in Middelberg has a large part of van den Broeke's collection, some currently on display. The book above states that Zeeland was in the 17th and 18th centuries one of the most populated and prosperous areas in the republic. The farmers were very sucessful cultivators and reclaimers of areas of land. The towns providing goods for the rich farmers. The book mentions that the rich ladies wore their bergere when going out for a stroll. There is a similar hat in the Rijks Museum. See: Hartkamp-Jonxis, Ebeltje Indian Chintzes 1994 published Waanders b.v.Zwolle. Arnolli, Gieneke Exotisch Textiel in Friesland Exotic Textiles in Friesland (only in Dutch) for similar hats and fabrics. Crill, Rosemary Chintz. Indian Textiles for the West p 106 & 9 Hartkamp-Jonxis, Ebeltje SITS Oost-West Relaties in Textiel CHINTZ East-West Connection in Textiles only in Dutch. pub 1987 by Waander
of fine plaited leghorn straw spirally wound to the shallow crown, lined with a mordant and resist dyed cotton with touches of hand painted indigo, from the Coromandel Coast, India, the large scale Bizarre design with curling acanthus leaves, flower sprays in shades of madder, indigo and buff on a white ground, glazed, the 19th century ribbons of green brocade woven with terracotta and yellow silks, 16 1/2 in or 42 cm diameter.
Very good. There is one slight break in the straw near the brim. Two v's out of the edge. The chintz is fine as are the ribbons.
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