Smoking cap

Object Type
Smoking caps provided scope for exoticism, bright colours and embroidered decoration. They were usually made of felt, which was often quilted on the inside for comfort and warmth.

Ownership & Use
Smoking caps became popular during the early 1850s. They were often worn with smoking jackets, 'a kind of short robe-de-chambre, of velvet, cashmere, plush, merino, or printed flannel; lined with bright colours, ornamented with brandenbourgs, olives or large buttons' (The Gentleman's Magazine of Fashion, 1852). Men put them on when they withdrew to the smoking room for an after-dinner cigar or cigarette.

Trade
The chain stitch embroidery on this example was probably worked in northern India. The felt would then have been imported into Britain or Europe, where it was made up into the cap. Sometimes caps had tassels attached to give added flair. Smoking rooms were sometimes in Turkish/Islamic styles as part of these generalised exotic associations.

Time
The smoking cap hardly survived the close of the 19th century, but the smoking jacket continued to be worn, often in place of the dinner jacket as an informal coat for an evening at home. Tobacco was originally smoked in a pipe or was taken in the form of snuff (tobacco mixed with spices). Cigars were introduced into Britain in about 1812,by soldiers returning from the Peninsular War. Cigarette smoking was a habit introduced by men returning from the Crimean War of 1854-1856.