however, not stiffened out. He has trunk hose or wide breeches which do
not reach to his knee, his stockings are well ornamented with clocks;
and lastly, there is the paint on his face, which brings us to a custom
that seems nearly as old as man himself. (See Figure 157 and Plate X,
Figure A.)
[Illustration: FIG. 157.--A clown, showing a survival of an Elizabethan
costume.]
Among the relics of the ancient cave men of Europe are found hollowed
stones, and these were used as mortars in which ochre and other colours
were ground for painting the body.
[Illustration: FIG. A.
THE HEAD OF A CLOWN, SHOWING THE PAINTED FACE, THE RUFF AND THE
ELIZABETHAN METHOD OF DOING THE HAIR.
FIG. B.
THE FACE OF A JAPANESE ACTOR.
(_After Moseley, by the courtesy of Mr. John Murray._)
FIG. C.
THE PAINTED FACE OF A PAPER FIGURE WHICH IS BURNED AT CHINESE FUNERALS.
(_After Moseley, by the courtesy of Mr. John Murray.)_
FIG. D.
THE TATTOOED HEAD OF A MAORI CHIEF.
(_By the courtesy of General Robley._)
_PLATE X._]
The Egyptians still follow the practice of blackening the edge of the
eyelid, both below and above the eye, with a black powder called kohl.
The material is prepared either from burning an aromatic resin or the
shells of almonds. The custom prevailed among both sexes in Egypt far
back in its history, and long before the historic period, painting the
eyes was already practised by the people whom Professor Petrie called
the "New Race" (until he determined that they preceded the dynastic
Egyptians).
It may be well to point out that these prehistoric people lived about
6000 years B.C.: they had little or no metal, though they made most
beautiful flint knives and stone vases. They buried their dead lying on
one side with the knees towards the chin, instead of making mummies.
Among the contents of their tombs have been found curious slate palettes
of all shapes and sizes, similar to some which had previously been known
for many years, but the origin of which was undetermined. It has been
shown that these palettes were used for grinding up malachite to form a
green colour with which to paint the eye. The idea was, it is supposed,
to mitigate the glare of the sun, and is similar to that which leads
Anglo-Indians to have the under sides of the brims of their hats
coloured green.
Another kind of temporary ornamentation is produced in Egypt to-day by
staining the feet and hands with the juice of the leaves of henna. The
result is that the part to which it is applied becomes a yellowish red
or deep orange colour. The most common practice is to dye the tips of
the fingers and toes so far as the first joint, the whole of the inside
of the hand and the sole of the foot, and there are other and more
fanciful modes of applying the henna, which is said to have an agreeable
effect upon the skin, particularly in the way of preventing it from
becoming too tender. The dyeing has to be renewed every fortnight or
three weeks, and the stain is brighter and more permanent on the nails
than on the fingers.
Among many native races in a low stage of civilization there are few who
do not decorate their body by painting it in some way. We have already
mentioned that painting takes away the appearance of nakedness, and that
many nations would be as much ashamed to be seen without their paint,
as Europeans would be to walk about without their clothes. On special
occasions, however, particularly striking colours are put on--for
instance, by the Australians when about to dance a corroboree, and
Professor Moseley[40] has pointed out that they have breast stripes and
leg stripes such as those which are seen on European uniforms. At first
sight these, as Professor Moseley, indeed, points out, would appear
to have quite a different origin, but it will be remembered that when
speaking of the Hussar uniform and the Dutch skeleton dress (see pages
145-6) it was suggested that the ornamentation might be intended to
follow the lines of the chief bones of the body, and it is possible that
the same idea may have underlain the painting carried out by savages.
In this case what in one instance was effected by paint was in the other
done by means of trimmings.
Paint plays a great part in savage warfare, and no doubt the intention
very often was to terrify the adversary. It is apparently this idea
which actuated the old inhabitants of this country, who, as Cæsar says,
stained themselves with woad in order to be of horrider aspect in
battle; but Dr. Tylor has pointed out the error into which many
historians have fallen through considering as savages races who, while
having attained to considerable civilization, still kept up the practice
of colouring their bodies in time of war. To the instances which we have
mentioned of modern races staining themselves, we may add that of the
Hindu women in India, who colour their teeth black and paint their feet
scarlet. Japanese women blacken their teeth upon marriage.
In certain Japanese plays the actors have bright streaks of red paint
made on their faces, usually on each side of the eyes (see Plate X,
Figure B).
Professor Moseley[41] records that the same form of painting is to be
seen in the case of Japanese children on festive occasions, for after
they have been elaborately dressed by their parents they are further
adorned with one or two transverse and narrow streaks of bright red
paint, leading outwards from the outer corners of their eyes, or placed
near to that position. The style is the same as that which survives in
the case of adults on the stage. Professor Moseley brings forward a
further case showing that such a form of painting possibly existed in
ancient times in China. When a man of distinction died in China in
former times, a certain number of servants were sacrificed at his
burial. Now, figures made of pasteboard and paper, about three feet or
so high, are burnt instead at the funeral service in small furnaces
provided for the purpose in the temples, together with cartloads of
similar pasteboard gifts which are sent by the survivors for the use of
the dead in the next world. Earthenware figures were similarly buried
with great men in old times in Japan, and we may compare with these
customs that of the Egyptians who buried models of servants, as
mentioned on page 268, in the graves of their dead.
The pasteboard heads of these funeral servants and retainers are painted
with streaks, some of which are put on in almost exactly the same style,
at the angles of the eyes, as those of modern Japanese actors. It seems
a fair conjecture that the streaks on these heads are a direct survival
of an actual former savage form of painting which was once in vogue in
China, and probably used to make fighting men hideous.
It is well known that primitive customs survive in connection with
funerals all over the world with extreme tenacity. The numerous
interesting survivals existing in the case of English funerals are
familiar.
We give a figure taken from the head of a Chinese servant, which
Professor Moseley bought at a manufactory of funeral properties in Hong
Kong. (See Plate X, Figure C.)
With regard to the ordinary use of paint by women in China and Japan,
Professor Moseley points out that it is entirely different in principle
from that in vogue in Europe. He says: "The use of paint as an ornament
in China and Japan seems to me to be of considerable interest. In both
countries the women regularly paint their faces when in full dress, of
which the paint is a necessary part.
"The paint is not put on with any idea of simulating a beauty of
complexion, which might be present naturally, or which has been lost by
age. The painted face is utterly unlike the appearance of any natural
beauty.
"An even layer of white is put on over the whole face and neck, with the
exception, in Japan, of two or three angular points of natural brown
skin, which are left bare at the back of the neck as a contrast. After
the face is whitened, a dab of red is rubbed in on the cheeks, below
each eye. The lips are then coloured pink with magenta, and in Japan
this colour is put on so thickly that it ceases to appear red, but takes
on the iridescent metallic green tint of the crystallized aniline
colour.
"In modern Japanese picture books, the lips of girls may sometimes be
seen to be represented thus green. I suppose the idea is that such
application of paint shows a meritorious disregard for expense. It is
curious that the use of aniline colour should have so rapidly spread in
China and Japan. In China, at least, such was not to be expected; but it
seems to have supplanted the old rouge, and it is sold spread on folding
cards, with Chinese characters on them, at Canton and in Japan. This
form of painting the face seems to be exactly of the same nature as
savage painting."
The likeness of this painting to that of our clowns is of course quite
obvious.
Sometimes the painting of the body has a practical advantage. The
Andaman Islanders plaster themselves with a mixture of lard and coloured
earth, which protects their skin from the heat and mosquitoes; but, as
Dr. Tylor points out, they go off into love of display when they proceed
to draw lines on the paint with their fingers, or when a dandy will
colour one side of his face red and the other olive-green, and make an
ornamental border-line where the two colours meet down his chest and
abdomen.
Fashions in paint were quite as slavishly followed as any other, and,
as we see, have died hard. It is not a very far cry from painting to
tattooing. Of savages, Théophile Gautier has said that, having no
clothes to embroider, they embroider themselves. Scar tattooing is
connected with various rites such as are followed when a brave arrives
at manhood, and certainly tattooing serves to indicate the family or
tribe to which the ornamented person belongs. There is no doubt,
however, that the intention of much tattooing is to increase individual
beauty. Excellent examples of this are to be found in the case of the
Maoris, whose faces were most elaborately covered with designs. We are
kindly permitted to reproduce some of the drawings which General Robley
has made from specimens in his magnificent collection (see Plate X,
Figure D). The practice now, however, is dying out. Of the Formosans it
is said that their skins are covered with flower patterns until they
look like damask.
Tattooing was practised by the old inhabitants of this country, by the
Jews and the earliest Egyptians: it is still carried on in modern Egypt,
chiefly on the chin, on the back of the hands, the arms and feet, the
middle of the bosom, and the forehead. It survives principally in the
case of the women of the lower classes and in the country. Among
European sailors and among the lower classes, and even occasionally
those up in high social scale, we find tattooing carried on, though the
original idea of ornamentation is lost when the decoration is covered by
clothing.
We have seen occasionally at shows--such as that organized by
Barnum--white people who have been tattooed to a very great extent, and
even in the case of Europeans the patterns tend to take off the bare
look even of the white skin. No doubt the desire to make permanent such
ornamentation as that obtained by painting, led to the introduction of
tattooing, and just as some marks suggest that they are copied from
amulets, so some amulets show traces of having been derived from tattoo
patterns. Mr. Lovett has pointed out to us that possibly the floral
designs worked on the backs of the bodices of the women of Marken, in
Holland, may have originated from tattooing, but no doubt careful
research would show some other and undoubted instances.
The painting of the face, which is intended to heighten its beauty and
hide the ravages of time, is quite another matter. It survives to the
present day, but luckily it is much less common in this country than
it was a few years ago. It does not, however, seem to have been at all
in vogue in England until the Middle Ages, though cosmetics and false
complexions were made use of by ladies in Roman times.
Fairholt[42] quotes from an old French poem of the thirteenth century
which describes the wares of a mercer who declares, "I have cotton with
which they rouge, and whitening with which they whiten themselves." The
cotton took the place of the hare's foot that is now used in making up,
to rub colour on the cheeks.
At this point we might consider patches, the use of which made it
possible to ornament the skin with patterns that could be removed at
will. These patches came into fashion in Charles I's reign, but were
banned by the Puritans. As soon, however, as Charles II came into his
own again, they made their appearance once more, and took various
fantastic shapes: owls, rings, crescents, and crowns; a coach and horses
was particularly fashionable, and in the time of Queen Anne it was
possible to tell the political views of fashionable ladies by their
faces and their fans. Party feeling ran very high at this time, and
those who were neutral wore patches on both cheeks, a Whig lady on the
right side only, while a High Church Tory dame only adorned the left,
and she wore suspended from her wrist a fan on which was depicted a
scene from the trial of Dr. Sacheverell at Westminster Hall.
Red and white paint was at the same time universally employed by women
of fashion, who, as Miss Helen Gordon[43] says, had perforce to keep
their lovers at a respectful distance, lest a kiss "snatched by a
forward one might transfer the complexion of the mistress to the
admirer." The untimely decease of more than one famous beauty was
attributed to the paint with which she besmeared her countenance, a
notable instance being the death of Lady Coventry, whose husband had
been wont to chase her round the dinner-table in his determined efforts
to remove the deleterious compound from her face with his serviette.
According to Walpole, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu used the cheapest white
paint obtainable, and left it so long on her skin that it had literally
to be scraped off. It may be inferred that these fine ladies rarely
washed; but "the age was careless in that respect, personal cleanliness
at a discount, and the essence pot consequently in great demand."
We spoke just now of fans, which can, perhaps, be considered an article
of dress as they are very often fastened to the person. There seems no
doubt but that at first fans did not close, and were made of feathers
like those still in use in the East from whence they are derived.
Probably in the beginning, leaves were used as fans, and palm-leaf fans
are still to be seen. Fans were in general use in the sixteenth century,
and the folding one appeared in the next.
Sometimes, as at the end of the eighteenth century, large green fans,
called sunshades, were used out of doors in the same way as a modern
parasol now is. There is another use of the fan still to be noted in
China, namely, for blowing up a fire, and from this we no doubt get the
expression of "fanning the flame."
Painting apparently was not only practised by women, for male courtiers
at the end of the sixteenth century occasionally coloured their faces.
If we are to believe some of the writers in the newspapers of to-day,
men of leisure are not a whit better nor less foolish now.
Of masks as an ordinary everyday addition to costume we have no
survivals, except in connection with some balls and an occasional
burglary; but masks such as we see on the 5th of November will remind
us, like the face of the clown, of primitive face-painting, and also of
the many curious head-dresses and masks which savages wear at certain
ceremonies and dances. It is easy to produce grotesque effects by means
of masks, and the discomfort that would arise from the paint is thereby
avoided.
The practice of wearing masks, and indeed dominoes, by private
individuals came from Venice. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
masks made of black satin and velvet often formed part of the toilet of
society ladies. At one period the wearing of them was restricted to the
times of carnivals; at another, the nobility alone were allowed to use
them, and now we only see masks at fancy-dress balls. Of the unwritten
laws that rule the wearing of the mask, Mrs. Aria says[44]: "Whether
worn privately or in public, its disguise has at all times and in
all countries been respected as inviolably sacred. To the masked the
greatest extravagance of language and gesture is permitted. He is
allowed to indulge in acrid personalities and proclaim scathing truths,
which, even if addressed to the monarch himself, go unrebuked. To strike
a mask is a serious offence, while in no class of society, however
degraded, would any one dare to unmask a woman. Yet another prerogative
entitles the masked to invite any woman present, whether masked or not,
to dance with him, etiquette decreeing that the queen of the land may
not claim exemption from this rule. Dear to romance is the masked
highwayman, who flourished until the advent of railways robbed him of
his occupation; and a grim figure is ever the masked headsman."
XXIX
STAGE COSTUMES
THE HARLEQUIN, PANTALOON, COLUMBINE, AND ACROBAT
While Punch has left the stage and is now a puppet, some of his
coadjutors are with us, for the harlequinade is still introduced into
many pantomimes at Christmas, and special plays have been written in
which these characters appear. The harlequin, who gives his name to what
is now an interlude, was some thousand or two years back one of the
important personages in the old Italian comedy which gave us Punch, and
which we have already mentioned in a previous chapter.
Harlequin was versatile and many-sided, and he still keeps up his
slap-dash character. It is true that harlequin does not now speak, any
more than does the columbine, and we may trace the evolution of the
Italian Mimi, or buffoons, into the Pantomimi, who were tragic actors.
They, by means of certain well-understood signs and gestures, were able
to play tragedies in the open air under conditions which would have
prevented their voices from being heard. In some theatres also the
actors were not allowed by the authorities to speak. Originally the
harlequin was a mime. He had a shaven head, a sooty face--for the mimi
blackened their faces like our modern niggers--he had flat, unshod feet
and a patched coat of many colours which he derived from the ancient
peasants of Italy.
Some have seen in the wand of the harlequin a descendant of the rod of
Mercury, and have sought for a prototype of the modern pantomime in
pagan mysteries. In England, however, we have turned the harlequin into
a magician, and his wand is perhaps the gilt wooden sword which belonged
to the clown or fool all the world over. Now also we have the character
in what Mr. Calthrop terms his tight-fitting lizard-skin of flashing
golden colours, for the patches on his rags have now given place to a
symmetrical pattern (see Figure 158).
There have been many celebrated harlequins who have devoted their lives
to the development of this character, and there is an interesting case
which Disraeli[45] gives in his "Curiosities of Literature," in which,
as part of a quit-rent or feudal tenure--whenever the Abbot of Figéac
entered this town--the Lord of Montbron, dressed in a harlequin's coat,
with one of his legs bare, has to lead the prelate's horse by its bridle
to the abbey.
[Illustration: FIG. 158.--The dress of a modern harlequin.]
In the clown and the pantaloon we still have the dress of Elizabethan
times (see Figures 157 and 159). The paint on the former, as we have
seen, will carry us back to times of remote antiquity. His hat is of a
shape well known in early English history, and he himself is English
all through. The pantaloon, again, is Italian. Both he and his Venetian
breeches get their names from St. Pantaleone, one of the patron saints
of Venice. Pantaleone was by no means an uncommon patronymic in that
place. In order to reconcile the statements that the dress of the
pantaloon is Elizabethan and his nether garments are Venetian, which
might appear to be mutually contradictory, it must be pointed out
that the Venetian breeches had been introduced in the days of earlier
Tudors, and were still in vogue when Elizabeth was on the throne. The
pantaloon's red and green colours and his red heels are also, as we have
indicated, Elizabethan.
[Illustration: FIG. 159.--A pantaloon, showing an Elizabethan costume of
which Venetian breeches form part.]
The columbine, who, like the harlequin, does not speak, and so keeps
up the pantomime character, wears the ballet dress of early Victorian
times. Originally she was a female harlequin, or harlequinne, and her
dress of spangles is still sometimes used in fancy-dress dances. Of the
other characters, who once assisted those that we have described, we
have none left. Scaramouch persisted for some time, and was, like the
harlequin and columbine, a pantomimist. He has gone even from Punch and
Judy, though the doctor still remains.
Though not strictly a theatrical performer, but seen in the circus,
the music-hall, and still also as a wandering mountebank, we have the
acrobat. His dress is simple and eminently suitable for the work which
he has to do; it consists of a vest, of very short trunk hose or
breeches, and long Florentine hose, or, as we now call them, tights.
Though such a costume was worn in the reigns of the early Tudors, in
detail the breeches are very much like those which were worn by Lord
Darnley, the husband of Mary Queen of Scots. Doubtless also in the
tights which are so familiar on the stage we have a survival similar
to that seen in the acrobat, the clown, and the knights of the older
orders.
XXX
NIGHTDRESS
BANDS ON NIGHTGOWNS--NIGHTCAPS--NIGHT ATTIRE WORN IN THE STREET
Going to bed can hardly be called a ceremony; but the dress in which the
bulk of humanity now sleeps can claim to be a special one. There are, of
course, many people, who are not mere casual tramps, who sleep in their
everyday clothes. Drovers who have to go to out-of-the-way places with
cattle, where they can never be sure of getting a lodging, will sleep
possibly after merely removing their outer coat, and it stands to reason
that men engaged in this business can hardly be bothered to carry
luggage with them. Any survivals that we may have to deal with in the
case of our airiest dresses will not take us very far back into history,
because our ancestors, from all accounts, went to an extreme which is
the opposite to that which we have just been mentioning, and instead of
keeping on all their clothes at night, they took them all off and put
on no others. Mr. Calthrop[46] graphically describes a scene which he
supposes to be taking place in the reign of William Rufus. A lady is
disturbed while getting ready for bed by a cry of "sanctuary," and
watches from her window until the fugitive is let into the church by the
monks. In concluding his story, Mr. Calthrop says, "The night is cold.
The lady pulls a curtain across the window, and then, stripping herself
of her chemise, she gets into bed."
A man's nightshirt is severe in cut like that which he wears in the day,
and the sides are slit up in both garments as they are in the dalmatic
and the tunics worn by the Anglo-Saxons, which were like a day shirt,
longer behind than in front. A survival of the latter as an outer
garment is to be seen in the short smocks worn by labourers who dig
drains and do similar work. The lady's nightgown may be elegantly
ornamented with lace in the same way as are the linen garments which she
wears in the daytime; but very often we find a large collar edged with
lace, which recalls the falling band which we have had so often to
mention. (See Figure 160.)
To a great extent sleeping suits of a coat and trousers, which are known
by the name of pyjamas, have taken the place of the man's nightshirt.
These have the merit of making a man look more presentable if called up
on an emergency. We shall see, if we contrast male and female fashions,
that it has always been customary for the costume of women to follow
that of men, though most ladies draw the line at adopting trousers. We
have heard, however, of one young lady at least who does by night what
she will not do by day, for she has given up her nightgown in favour of
pyjamas.
[Illustration: FIG. 160.--The bands that survive on a lady's
nightdress.]
[Illustration: FIG. 161.--A woman's nightcap, still worn in Wiltshire.]