Bonnet
Object number82.133
MediumSilk; Cotton
Credit LineGift of Betty Leyda
DescriptionBlack silk bonnet with deep brim and shoulder frill. Ribbon ties in front.Dimensions20 in. (50.8 cm)Label TextThis dark bonnet of modest design reflects the simplistic lifestyle of the Amish. The Amish and Mennonites were both part of the early Anabaptist religious movement in Europe, which took place at the time of the Reformation. In 1693, a Swiss Bishop named Jacob Anman broke from the Mennonite Church, and his followers known as the Amish fled from Catholic and Protestant persecutors to Switzerland and Germany, eventually settling in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania as part of William Penn’s “holy experiment,” in the 1720s and 1730s. The Amish have always stressed the virtues of humility, family, community, and separation from the world, especially in relationship to their appearance and how they want to be viewed by society. The Amish feel that their distinctive clothing encourages modesty and isolation within their culture because of their simplistic elements of dress and their choice not to conform to the societal conventions of fashion. Amish men typically wear dark-colored suits without lapels, broad trousers, solid-colored shirts, suspenders, black socks and shoes, and a black or straw-brimmed hat. Amish women most commonly wear solid-colored skirts in blue or purple, black stockings and shoes, white or black prayer caps when they are indoors, and black bonnets during church services or when they are outside.
On View
On viewCollections
1880-1900
1880-1889
c. 1916
Dorothea Balestreire
1847-1969
