Umbrellas and Their History by William Sangster
page 17 of 59 (28%)
page 17 of 59 (28%)
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inwrought with gold, and Claudian in the same way has:--
"Neu defensura calorem Aurea submoveant rapidos umbracula soles." --_Claud._, lib. viii., De. iv. cons. Honorii, 1. 340. [Footnote: "Nor. to protect you from the heat, let the golden umbrella ward off the keen sun's rays."] From this we may conclude that the carrying an Umbrella was in some sort a mark of effeminacy. In another place carrying the Umbrella is alluded to as one of the duties of a slave:-- "Jam non umbracula tollunt Virginibus," etc. [Footnote: "_Now_ they do not carry girls' parasols."] Gorius says that the Umbrella came to Rome from the Etruscans, and certainly it appears not infrequently on Etruscan vases, as also on later gems. One gem, figured by Pacudius, shows an Umbrella with a bent handle, sloping backwards. Strabo describes a sort of screen or Umbrella worn by Spanish women, but this is not like a modern Umbrella. Very many curious facts are connected with the use of the Umbrella throughout the East, where it was nearly everywhere one of the insignia of royalty, or at least of high rank. M. de la Loubère, who was Envoy Extraordinary from the French King to the King of Siam in 1687 and 1688, wrote an account entitled a "New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam," which was |
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