This waiscoat was owned and worn by Margaret Layton (probably born about 1590, died 1641), wife of Francis Layton (born 1577, died 1661), Yeoman of the Jewel House during the reign of James I, Charles I and Charles II. An portrait by an unknown artist, dating from the 1620s, shows Margaret Layton wearing this waistcoat. When the V&A acquired the waistcoat and portrait of Margaret Layton in 1994, the version ‘Laton’ was used following the example set in 1933 by V&A curator Albert Kendrick. However, according to documents and monuments of the Layton family in Rawdon, Yorkshire, and the Dictionary of National Biography, the name was always spelled with a ‘y’. Purchased. Registered File number 1994/644. Historical significance: This demonstrates very high quality embroidery, most likely professional. The fact that the waistcoat is complete and unaltered is unusual