Elizabethan lives / Home, work and play
Play
How a shopaholic spent her money
Fashioned from silver, gilt thread and
glass beads, this rather strange purse in
the shape of a small frog is very much a
product of the rapid growth in the luxury
goods market during the Elizabethan
period. Made in the early 17th century,
it was designed to complement a
fashionable woman’s outfit, and would
have been used to carry small items such
as coins, pins, needles and thread.
During Elizabeth’s reign, the wealthy
found that they had more scope for
spending on sumptuous luxury goods
and accessories than ever before – the
first ‘shopping mall’ opening in London
in 1568 as part of the Royal Exchange.Opportunities for entertainment also
increased, and in London natives and
visitors alike could choose from the
regular performances of plays at the
newly opened permanent public
theatres (with tickets starting at
a single penny) to more brutal
diversions such as cock fighting
and bear baiting.Play
A country gent in
his well-tended fields
This amusing and charming portrait of a local
Norfolk landowner called John Symonds, dating
to c1595–1600, shows him on horseback with
a hawk perched on his arm, his well-tended
fields visible in the background. The proportions
between the figure and his horse seem to be at
odds, which indicates that the artist was most
likely a local painter.
As can be seen from the details of the
Bermondsey fete picture (pages 12–13), pleasure
and recreation in Elizabethan towns and villages
often centred on community events such as
market days, fairs, festivals, weddings or civic
entertainments. In the countryside, however,
while much of the population worked as manual
labourers on the land, the country gentry would
find opportunities for exercise and recreation in
countryside sports such as hunting and hawking.