Jabot, partlet, [in French: 'colerette', 'georgette', in Dutch: 'neerstik']

Eleven jabots / partlets, 'elff kinderneersticken' in the Great Hall, room I. A jabot or 'neerstik' is a "term for a linen jabot worn on the neck by the chest; "une colerette, une georgette", in order to cover the upper part of the breasts for the sake of decency. One may see a partlet on the Milkmaid by Vermeer. In Dutch: "halsdeksel" ; "sometimes with fine lacework along the side protruding from the gown or tabbaart." quoted from: WNT LX, col. 1795.

Marieke de Winkel (message 2001): "flat garment worn by the neck, tucked into the V neck line."

For a full discussion of the object on the right see the Laundry list.

Note : This object was part of the Vermeer-inventory as listed by the clerk working for Delft notary public J. van Veen. He made this list on February 29, 1676, in the Thins/Vermeer home located on Oude Langendijk on the corner of Molenpoort. The painter Johannes Vermeer had died there at the end of December 1675. His widow Catherina and their eleven children still lived there with her mother Maria Thins.

The transcription of the 1676 inventory, now in the Delft archives, is based upon its first full publication by A.J.J.M. van Peer, "Drie collecties..." in Oud Holland 1957, pp. 98-103. My additions and explanations are added within square brackets [__]. Dutch terms have been checked against the world's largest language dictionary, the Dictionary of the Dutch Language (Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal , or WNT), which was begun by De Vries en Te Winkel in 1882. In 2001 many textile terms have been kindly explained by art historian Marieke te Winkel.

Illustration taken from the recently published handbook on Dutch Doll Houses by Jet Pijzel-Dommisse,Het Hollandse pronkpoppenhuis, Interieur en huishouden in de 17de en 18de eeuw, Waanders, Zwolle; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2000, ill.. 550.

*Marieke de Winkel, 'The Interpretation of Dress in Vermeer's Paintings' in Vermeer Studies, edited by Ivan Gaskell and Michiel Jonker, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, 1998, 327-339.

This page forms part of a large encyclopedic site on Vermeer and Delft. Research by Drs. Kees Kaldenbach (email). A full presentation is on view at johannesvermeer.info.

Launched December, 2002; Last update March 2, 2017.

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