I was recently asked to comment on
the clothes worn by a cartoon character in a 1640s satirical broadsheet. It was
obvious when I looked closely that the breeches fly was open (see above) and I remembered
seeing the same thing in a painting of Charles II. This got me thinking and
wondering whether this was ridicule or a fashion statement. Often it is easy to
apply modern standards where they don’t belong and when I looked into it, I found out some things I
didn’t expect and ended up with more questions than answers.
The
codpiece evolved as a flap to cover the front opening in a pair of breeches and
during Tudor times turned into a quite exaggerated pouch that drew attention to
the genital area. By the 1640s however the codpiece as an accessory had all but
disappeared whilst it seems to have remained in the language to describe the
buttoned flap that closed the opening; what we would now call a trouser fly, a
term unrecorded before Victorian times.
In “Hocus Pocus, The Anatomy of Ledgerdemain” from
1638, the author puts this comment in the margin as part of a piece about the
cup and ball. This is still familiar now as a confidence trick:
“ Some I have
seen with their codpieces open, others play with a budget hanging before
them"
A budget is a wallet or bag, and the quote relates to
finding a place to hide a ball and make it disappear.
In Robert Herrick’s poem Hesperides from 1648, there
is this entry:
“ If the servants search,
they may descry In his wide Codpeece, (dinner being done) Two Napkins cram'd
up, and a silver Spoone.”
Another example of the codpiece being used as a receptacle,
though neither reference make
plain whether it is a pouch or just the breeches opening that is being referred
to, they do show that the term was still current.
Several images from the 1640s show the codpiece being
worn in a fashion that we would describe as “half mast”. In The English Antick,
a satirical cartoon from 1646, amongst the list of his “anticks” number 17
says:
“His codpeece open and
tied at the top with riband”
Here's the close up. He's obviously "flying low".
The Wolfe with Eagles Clawes, a parliament scandal sheet aimed
against Prince Rupert from 1647 shows a similar character, though this time
obviously a fantasy figure, with his codpiece unbuttoned. The close up is at the top of this piece.
Isaac Fuller painted five pictures that detailed
Charles II’s adventures after the royalist loss at the Battle of Worcester. The
paintings were made after the Restoration and show Charles in disguise.
In the first painting Charles is putting on his disguise
and his companion Richard Penderel has his breeches open, whilst in one of the
later illustrations, Penderel’s codpiece is buttoned and Charles displays
the lower part of his shirt linen through an open codpiece.
There are several possibilities why a codpiece might
be illustrated as open, but as a custom, the reasons are lost in the mists of
time.
Maybe it was a hangover from the codpiece as an extra
pouch in front of the breech opening, once the pouch disappeared men continued
with not fastening the opening. Perhaps it evolved as a fashion that aped the uncouth
commoner for whom the need to close the vent was either unimportant or a sign
of laziness? Or was the codpiece just
used as an extra pocket as described in the references above and as such left
open for easy access?
Answers please!!
Good post, very interesting. Wish I could throw some light on the subject but I can't.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Keith.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com.au/
Splendid post. "About the Wolfe" duly updated with a link it
ReplyDeleteThe "tied with a bow" bit reminds me of the "save your favorite jeans" waistline expanders. Basically an extra button on a loop of elastic for people who can't admit they've outgrown their trousers!
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog! Looking forward to reading on!
ReplyDelete