Handkerchief

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The dense embroidery on this handkerchief is complex and beautifully balanced. The whitework coronet and shield indicate that the object may have been part of a court presentation costume. The coronet motif features nine pearls, which represents the rank of a viscount.

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