Handkerchief
Date1774-1780
OriginEngland
MediumCotton, plate printed
DimensionsH: 24 1/2"; W: 26" (selvage to selvage)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1967-102
DescriptionHandkerchief of cotton plate-printed in red on natural ground, with narrow hems at top and bottom and selvages as the edge finish. The subject is an outdoor village celebration in which a man and a woman wearing neck ruffs are carried in a sedan chair on poles, surrounded by a crowd of men and women. At the left middle ground is a church and at the right is a house with people leaning out of the upper windows, cheering. A tree with a man perched in the crook stands in the left middle ground. The bottom border has printed script letters reading, "The Procession after claiming the Gammon of Bacon at the Monastry of Great Dunmow in Essex". A verse is printed in the remaining three borders, starting at the lower left:"FORM OF THE OATH
You shall Swear by the custom of our confession
That you never made any Nuptial transgression,/
Since you were Married Man and Wife,
By household brawls or contentious strife;/
Or otherwise, in Bed, or at Board,
Offended each other in Deed, or in word;/
Or since the Parish-Clerk said Amen,
Wished yourselves Unmarried again;/
Or in a Twelvemonths and a Day,
Repented not in thought any way;/
But continued true, and in desire,
As when you joined hands in holy quire./
If to these Conditions, without any fear,
Of your own accord you will freely swear;/
A Gammon of Bacon you shall receive,
And bear it hence with love, and good leave;/
For this our custom, at Dunmow well known,
Tho the sport is ours, the Bacon's your own."
Construction History:
1. Initial Construction 1774-1780
Label TextThe English village of Dunmow in Essex had a long-standing tradition in which a married couple that had remained faithful and happy for a year could claim a "gammon" of bacon. A gammon was the lower end of a side of bacon or a smoked ham. The custom was revived in Dunmow in the mid twentieth century, and is scheduled every four years.
Markings3 Blue threads in selvages, indicating cotton for export between 1774 and 1811.
Exhibition(s)
1733-1738
November 9, 1782
1798-1801
August 16, 1785
