Cap

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Finely embroidered baby caps such as this were kept by families as much for their sentimental value as for their obviously pleasing aesthetics and fine workmanship. Many have subsequently been accepted into museum collections. The interesting provenance of this piece enhances its value as a museum object. The accession record states that it was "worn by the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe," (1811-1896) author of the great novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Beecher family consisted of eleven children, seven boys and four girls. Harriet was the eleventh child. Three boys were born to the family between 1809 and 1815. The brother most likely to have worn this cap as a baby was the prominent Brooklyn preacher and reformer, Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887).

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art