Description
Created in 2013, The Plague Doctor Top Hat is based on the hat in the 1656 engraving by Paul Fürst. It has a wide brim that slopes downward, and a short crown that is wider at the top than the bottom. Traditionally hats that are wider at the top than the bottom are shaped on hat blocks that break down into several pieces. A single block could not be removed from the finished crown, but the multiple smaller pieces can be extracted one at a time.
Each hat is hand formed and hand sewn.
The Plague Doctor Top Hat Photo Gallery
How It Was Made
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Making of The Plague Doctor Top Hat
“I have made a leather hat based on the 1656 engraving by Paul Fürst, the only contemporary picture of a plague doctor that I have been able to find. You can see that it has a wide brim that slopes downward, and a short crown that is wider at the top than the bottom. Here is my finished hat made of black vegetable tanned cowhide with a deerskin sweatband. The biggest challenge in making such a hat is shaping the crown….”
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