G. F. Watts's Velvet Skull Cap

object height: 7 cm
object Diameter: 16 cm

G. F. Watts's Velvet Maroon Skull Cap. Skull cap constructed of purple silk velvet with silk pile and cotton ground. Constructed of one piece of cloth which has been shaped to fit the head with darts. There are eight full darts running from the centre of the cap to the lower edge, giving the impression of eight separate panels joined together with seams. There is a strip of ribbed silk 13mm wide, with the raw edges turned in, running round the inside edge, covering the turned in raw edge of the velvet. The darts and the strip of silk are stitched by hand and appear to be in the same or very similar thread. The skull cap is not lined and there is no evidence of there having been a lining originally, although this seems surprising.