Jerkin

Date: About 1550-1600

This youth's dark brown leather jerkin (a type of jacket) is decorated with vertical and diagonal scored bands and diamond, heart and star pinking. It is fastened with decorative pewter buttons that imitate buttons made from worked silk or gilt thread over a wooden core. Such practical and decorative garments were highly fashionable from the mid-1500s: and those made from Spanish leather were particularly prized. Thefts were common and, in 1554, John Porter stole a fine 'jerkyn of buckes leather' from the Tottenham home of John Stooe. Jerkins were worn by both men and boys but by the late 1500s were also popular with women.

Accession number: 36.237

Place made: London

Place of collection: Tower of London

Material: leather; lead alloy

Measurements: H 520 mm; W (shoulders) 450 mm; D (max) 305 mm

Gallery location: Case 19.2