Perpetuana was a woollen fabric made and used in
early modern England
Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Major historical events in early modern British history include numerous wars, especially with France, along with the ...
and elsewhere for clothing and furnishings including
bed hangings
Bed hangings or bed curtains are fabric panels that surround a bed; they were used from medieval times through to the 19th century. Bed hangings provided privacy when the master or great bed was in a public room, such as the parlor, but also kept i ...
. It was lighter than
broadcloth
Broadcloth is a dense, Plain weave, plain woven textile, cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finish ...
and resembled
serge Serge may refer to:
*Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric
*Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme
*Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name)
*Serge (post), a hitchi ...
, some varieties had a glossy finish. The name seems to advertise its long-lasting qualities. A fabric called "sempiternum" or "sempiterna" for the same reason was perhaps a similar weave. Like another English-made fabric "Penniston", perpetuana was used for the clothing of slaves in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
New drapery
The cloth was one of the "new draperies" first made in England at
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''.
Colchester occupies the ...
, and
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
in the last half of the 16th century.
Perpetuana was permitted as an export to India by
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
in 1631. Large quantities of English perpetuana were shipped to
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
in 1640. Also known as "perpets", perpetuana fabrics were made in France and Holland (
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
). An English author in 1713 considered that the English version of the cloth had better success as an export to Spain than the French, as it was cheaper and possibly of better quality. By this time,
Crediton
Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...
and
Sandford in Devon had become centres for weaving perpetuana and other woollens.
As country clothing
Accounts for the clothes of
Thomas Myddleton at
Chirk Castle
Chirk Castle () is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales, from Chirk railway station, now owned and run by the National Trust.
History
The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roge ...
in 1612 include "sea-green" perpetuana. Two park keepers in Thomas Campion's entertainment at
Caversham Park
Caversham Park is a Victorian-era stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically located in Oxfordshire, it became part of Berkshire with boundary changes in 1977. Caversham Park was h ...
on 27 April 1613 for
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...
were "formally attired in green perpetuana".
Perpetuana was suitable for country workmen and servants.
Lord William Howard
Lord William Howard (19 December 1563 – 7 October 1640) was an English nobleman and antiquary, sometimes known as "Belted Will" or "Bauld (bold) Will".
Early life
Howard was born on 19 December 1563 at Audley End, Essex, the fourth and las ...
of
Naworth Castle
Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton, Carlisle, Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69 road (England), A69 road from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, ...
bought broadcloth in November 1617 and six yards of lighter green perpetuana in June 1618 for the clothes of his servant George Armstrong. In 1640, Sir William Calley of
Chiseldon
Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough. The larg ...
and
Burderop Park
Burderop Park is a Listed buildings#Examples of Grade II.2A listed buildings, Grade II* listed country manor house near Chiseldon, Wiltshire, England. The house was constructed in the early 17th century to a courtyard design, and was turned into a ...
, a retired cloth merchant, asked his steward Richard Harvey to buy "broad black perpetuana" to make suits for three servants.
The account book of William Fitzwilliam of
Milton Hall
Milton Hall near Peterborough, is the largest private house in Cambridgeshire, England. As part of the Soke of Peterborough, it was formerly in Northamptonshire. It dates from 1594, being the historical home of the Fitzwilliam family, and is situ ...
includes the making of two pairs of perpetuana
hose
A hose is a flexible hollow tube or pipe designed to carry fluids from one location to another, often from a faucet or hydrant.
Early hoses were made of leather, although modern hoses are typically made of rubber, canvas, and helically wound w ...
trimmed with gold and silver lace around the year 1610.
On the stage
There are references to perpetuana in 17th-century drama. In
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...
's ''
Cynthia's Revels'' of 1600, a character Hedon suggests that courtiers should wear silks rather than perpetuana, and the gentleman ushers of the court ought to exclude such tough "terrible coarse rags" and "rubbing devices" from the royal presence. Perpetuana was the name of a character in
John Marston
John Marston is a character in the ''Red Dead'' video game series by Rockstar Games. He is the main playable protagonist of the 2010 video game ''Red Dead Redemption'', wherein he must deal with the decline of the Wild West while being force ...
's 1599 play ''
Histriomastix
''Histriomastix: The Player's Scourge, or Actor's Tragedy'' published in 1632 is a critique of professional theatre and actors, written by the Puritan author and controversialist William Prynne.
Publication
While the publishing history of the wo ...
'', (at first) the wife of a merchant "Velure", a French word for
velvet
Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...
. A textile-based insult in
Barnabe Barnes
Barnabe Barnes (c. 1571 – 1609) was an English poet. He is known for his Petrarchan love sonnets and for his combative personality, involving feuds with other writers and culminating in an alleged attempted murder.
Early life
The third son ...
' ''
The Devil's Charter
''The Devil's Charter'' is an early Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Barnabe Barnes. The play recounts the story of Pope Alexander VI.
Date, performance, publication
''The Devil's Charter'' dates from 1607; it was acted by the Kin ...
'' of 1607 has the
alliterative
Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a List of narrative techniques#Style, litera ...
"My perpetuana
pander". Black perpetuana was used to make a costume for a madman in
Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion (sometimes spelled Campian; 12 February 1567 – 1 March 1620) was an English composer, poet, and physician. He was born in London, educated at Cambridge, and studied law in Gray's Inn. He wrote over a hundred lute songs, masque ...
's ''Masque of Lords and Honourable Maids'', performed at the
.
Bed hangings
Despite negative associations presented on the stage, perpetuana was chosen for warm winter clothes and bed curtains by aristocrats. In 1606,
William Cavendish, a son of
Bess of Hardwick
Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marri ...
, bought a suit of green perpetuana for his teenage son, also
William Cavendish. There were four perpetuana beds decorated with lace with matching chairs and stools at
Petworth House
Petworth House is a late 17th-century Grade I listed English country house, country house in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England. It was built in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the desi ...
in 1635. In 1639 at
Gosfield Hall
Gosfield Hall is a English country houses, country house in Gosfield, near Braintree, Essex, Braintree in Essex, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
The house was built in 1545 by Sir John Wentworth, a member of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Wo ...
in Essex there was a French (style) bed of green perpetuana, and a red perpetuana bed in a nursery.
Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France (French language, French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to K ...
owned some crimson damask window curtains lined with red perpetuana. Blue perpetuana hangings and a blue perpetuana bed at
Ham House
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, London, Ham, south of Richmond, London, Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas ...
were trimmed with gilt Spanish leather.
In church
Green perpetuana was used to back or "bottom" a cushion with green silk fringes for the pulpit of
St Laurence's at
Ludlow
Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...
in 1621, and to make a decorative border for the pulpit. Blue perpetuana was chosen for a new chapel screen at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
in 1633.
Perpetuana and slavery
Richard Cocks
Richard Cocks (1565–1624) was the head of the British East India Company trading post in Hirado, Japan, between 1613 and 1623, from its creation until its bankruptcy and closure.
Life in France
He was baptised on 20 January 1565 at St Chad's ...
an officer of the English
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
stationed at
Hirado
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,172, and a population density of 120 people per km2. The total area of the city is
Geography
Hirado City occupies the northern part of Nagasaki P ...
in Japan received a bale of English perpetuana from the cargo of the ''Adviz'' in 1617. Hard-wearing perpetuana was exported to America. The cloth was exchanged for slaves at
Ouidah
Ouidah (English: ; French: ) or Whydah (; ''Ouidah'', ''Juida'', and ''Juda'' by the French; ''Ajudá'' by the Portuguese; and ''Fida'' by the Dutch), and known locally as Glexwe, formerly the chief port of the Kingdom of Whydah, is a city on t ...
in
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
and at
Accra
Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
in
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
.
Olfert Dapper
Olfert Dapper (January 1636 – 29 December 1689) was a Dutch physician and writer who wrote books about world history and geography although he never travelled outside the Netherlands.
Biography
Olfert Dapper was born in January 1636 in the J ...
, a 17th-century writer, mentioned that men of the
Guinea Coast
Guinea is a traditional name for the region of the coast of West Africa which lies along the Gulf of Guinea. It is a naturally moist tropical forest or savanna that stretches along the coast and borders the Sahel belt in the north.
Etymology
...
wore outfits made from a variety of fabrics or stuffs including perpetuana in his ''
Description of Africa'' (1668). West Africans rejected plain blue and black perpetuanas offered for sale in 1660, preferring brighter colours. In the 18th-century clothing for slaves in
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
was made with perpetuana fabric. Female slaves on several estates had petticoats of perpetuana.
[Edward Kamau Brathwaite, 'The 'Folk' Culture of the Slaves', Gad J. Heuman & James Walvin, ''The Slavery Reader'' (Routledge, 2003), p. 378.]
References
{{fabric
External links
Talk: Mike Brett, The Sandford Woollen Industry and Perpetuana, youtube
Woven fabrics