As explained in last month’s Periodical, the word ‘umbrella’ derives from Latin umbra (‘shade’) and initially it was used as protection from the sun. Ancient sculptures from c11th century BC reveal sunshades being used in Egypt, India and the Middle East, and later they were adopted by the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Probably inspired by the shady canopy of a tree, portable sunshades originally consisted of large fleshy leaves such as banana leaves or a converted tree branch. The word ‘parasol’, from Latin parare (to prepare) and sol (sun), also signified a sunshade, but an important distinction existed between the personal umbrella held by the user and the larger parasol carried over a person of distinction, by an attendant.
From early on, sunshades were associated with social rank and vast parasols became potent symbols of status and power throughout Asia and Africa, where to have fair skin was considered a mark of high birth. A parasol borne by an attendant helped to preserve the pale complexion of members of the social elite and in Assyria only the king could use a parasol. The number of tiers on the parasol was also significant, implying wealth and prestige: the Emperor King of Siam’s parasol boasted seven or nine tasselled and fringed tiers.
Besides its function as part of the ceremonial regalia of Asiatic and African rulers, the parasol was also considered symbolic in certain religions. A ceremonial umbraculum with a striped canopy has been used by the Pope since the 15th century, symbolising the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope’s authority.
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By the 1600s, sunshades were fashionable in Europe, especially among women, and possibly the Portuguese Queen Catherine of Braganza popularised dainty parasols among English ladies following her marriage to Charles II in 1662. From the late 1700s onwards, a more pronounced distinction was drawn between umbrellas for rain protection and the parasol or sunshade. Parasols remained an essential means of preserving a genteel lady’s pale complexion throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, until they grew outmoded in the late 1920s, when sunbathing became fashionable.
In the print edition
Read Jayne Shrimpton’s guide to unusual Victorian photos in Issue 4 of Discover Your Ancestors, available online at discoveryourancestors.co.uk