On Sun, 18 Mar 2007, Schaeffer, Astrida wrote: > I haven't been able to find anything in 14th c. art that shows a > detachable sleeve. Or how one might be attached (pins?), presumably to > an underdress, but maybe not. But there are references to sleeves as > separate garments all over the place (in literature as tournament > favors, listed as separate items in the Great Wardrobe, in the Datini > correspondence in Italy, etc. etc.). I don't know if I'm just not > seeing something because illuminated images are tiny and can't show > everything, or if I'm understanding "a pair of sleeves" as a modern > person, or just haven't looked in the right places. Any insight?
Yes, this is an ongoing question for me as well. I've seen occasional references to sleeves as separate items, but these seem to be quoted primarily in the secondary literature, and I've wondered if they've represent highly specific or localized usage and been inappropriately generalized as evidence of broader use. The one reference I know of as a sleeve as a favor is from a 12th century romance, the one about the lady with the "small sleeves" (sorry, I don't remember the details and would have to go looking it up). And in that one, I believe she actually cuts a sleeve from a garment to give as a favor. In any case, it doesn't tell us much about 14th century usage. The Datini correspondence is Italian, which is another matter entirely. I don't do much with Italian in 14th century because that's when the styles diverge greatly from what's happening in western Europe (which is my own area of study), but there are certainly images of separate, laced-on sleeves in Italy in "Italian Renaissance" art. So no trouble there. Which leaves the occasional inventory-type reference, and I haven't made a serious study of these -- but I wish someone would! I'd want to know if they show up for anyone other than royalty; if they're for men or women or both; do they always come in pairs; and more. I also don't have a sense at the moment of the dating on these references, but I do wonder if we're seeing references to the sorts of pin-on sleeves that show up in art in the 15th century. Here's where my memory goes fuzzy, but I think it's in the 14th century that we see occasional images of men at least (I don't recall any of women but there may be some of those as well) with heavily embroidered sleeves -- or perhaps that should be "sleeve" (singular) as the embroidery often (always?) appears to be on just on one sleeve, as a sort of emblem. It's quite possible that such sleeves would be prepared separately and then perhaps given as gifts, to be attached (permanently or temporarily?) to an existing garment. I haven't had occasion to explore this, though. --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
