Toppers Unite

[CraigEster]

Interesting, Craig.

Can you post your work in progress on this one?

When it's done I'll do a before-and-after post with images I've taken in the same place under the same lighting. Some of the bits of the hat are in a hat box because they're fragile. The hat itself is also a source of frustration at the moment, as most of the more intensive repairs are.

Shellac is a wonderful material and it is also something that takes a lot of time to master, if it is even possible to reach a level of mastery with it. The wonderfully firm and rigid hats we have today are molecularly cross-linked from age and the unique properties of the "coodle" recipes used in the past. I'm working on this area of research but it is slow and highly technical.

Anyway, shellac takes a long time to cure. Shellac actually goes through three phases of drying:
1) being dry to the touch or seemingly dry, which takes anywhere from a half hour to a few hours
2) being seeming firm, which can take a day or two when used as a stiffener
3) being actually dry, which takes a month or more
4) curing, which is molecular cross-linking caused by various factors

The last stage is why very old damage is far harder to repair - the shellac has a shape memory in that broken position. Compared to fixing that, new damage is a dream to fix. However, with the extreme damage that taller hat went through, there's no easy route to a full repair.

 

[steur]

Meddens top hat. Size 60 (7 1/2 American). Bound brim at 5cm and the crown at 14cm. Plenty of top hats to be found around these parts, but rarely one in a large size.
Meddens was a chain of fashion stores with branches in Amsterdam, (Heiligeweg), Arnhem, The Hague, Haarlem, Hilversum, Leidschendam and Rotterdam. The first branch was opened in Rotterdam on 1 May 1830 by Bernard I. Meddens. At that time, the company focused on the production of corsets. Until its closure in 2011, it remained a family business for five generations.

 

[Steve1857]

Meddens top hat. Size 60 (7 1/2 American). Bound brim at 5cm and the crown at 14cm. Plenty of top hats to be found around these parts, but rarely one in a large size.
Meddens was a chain of fashion stores with branches in Amsterdam, (Heiligeweg), Arnhem, The Hague, Haarlem, Hilversum, Leidschendam and Rotterdam. The first branch was opened in Rotterdam on 1 May 1830 by Bernard I. Meddens. At that time, the company focused on the production of corsets. Until its closure in 2011, it remained a family business for five generations.

That looks a beauty, Stefan.

Be interesting to know who actually made it.

I'm looking forward to seeing whose well proportioned head that one is going to sit atop of.

 

[Mean Eyed Matt]

Meddens top hat. Size 60 (7 1/2 American). Bound brim at 5cm and the crown at 14cm. Plenty of top hats to be found around these parts, but rarely one in a large size.
Meddens was a chain of fashion stores with branches in Amsterdam, (Heiligeweg), Arnhem, The Hague, Haarlem, Hilversum, Leidschendam and Rotterdam. The first branch was opened in Rotterdam on 1 May 1830 by Bernard I. Meddens. At that time, the company focused on the production of corsets. Until its closure in 2011, it remained a family business for five generations.

Great! Especially great in this size! And the silk plush also seems to be in excellent condition! Congratulations, Stefan.

 

[steur]

That looks a beauty, Stefan.

Be interesting to know who actually made it.

I'm looking forward to seeing whose well proportioned head that one is going to sit atop of.

Great! Especially great in this size! And the silk plush also seems to be in excellent condition! Congratulations, Stefan.

Thank you, gentlemen. Hard to tell who was the maker. Both the silk on the topside of the brim and the silk lining (rather than the more common paper) make me think it's an earlier one, which doesn't narrow the number of possible makers down.