Hat's off to art...paintings used to explore the history of headwear

THE etiquette of donning hats during the past 400 years is being explored in a new exhibition featuring headwear dating from the 19th century.

About 30 oils and works on paper will also feature in the show at York Art Gallery to explore some of the social rules which have influenced headgear over the centuries.

The works will be displayed with 19th and 20th century head gear from York Castle Museum's collections, including a late 19th century girl's straw hat, a surgeon's hat from the 1960s and a collapsible opera hat.

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The exhibition will use the paintings as a basis to explore some of the social trends that have influenced headwear in the last 400 years.

The gallery's assistant curator of fine art, Jennifer Alexander, said: "We have a wonderful collection of paintings from the last 400 years and many show how styles and fashions have changed.

"From baker hats to bonnets to bowlers, all hats say something about the person wearing it, whether it is their job, their social class or their era."

The artwork on show includes Dame Barbara Hepworth's Surgeon Waiting, William Etty's The Missionary Boy and Spencer Gore's The Balcony at the Alhambra.

The exhibition opens tomorrow and will run until January 23 next year.

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