Images(3)

Italian Gown

Date1745-1750 (textile); gown ca. 1780, gown remade ca. 1845

OriginEngland, London, Spitalfields

MediumBrocaded silk and linen lining

DimensionsOL: 65"; waist 24"; Textile 19 3/4" wide; vertical repeat 13 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1941-211,1

DescriptionWoman's gown of ivory color silk, brocaded with detached three-part flower clusters in reds, violet, yellows, and green and small lavender sprigs against a white supplemental weft pattern of serpentine flowering vines. Fitted bodice has front edge-to-edge closing, terminating in deep, squared-off points at front waistline; back bodice is shaped into a deep point at the waist and stiffened with boning. Neck is square in back and cut round and low in front. Untrimmed narrow sleeves curve over the elbows. The bodice and sleeves are lined with linen, approximately 44 x 40 threads per inch. Skirt, designed to be worn with side hoops, is pleated in 1" pleats to bodice. Skirt front is open to reveal petticoat. Skirt is unlined and has pocket slits. The skirt forms a slight train when elevated by hip-bustle device. (Photographed with petticoat 1960-715).

Construction History:

1. ca. 1745-150: Initial Construction and probably was made as a sack back gown. The proper left shoulder of the gown maybe the only remaining piece of linen from this era of gown.

2. ca. 1780: The gown was heavily altered into the new Italian style gown with a quartered back, remove most of the evidence from the earlier gown. The gown seems to have been relined in a course brown (natural) linen throughout the bodice. Two pieces of boning added to the center back.

3. ca. 1845: The gown was remade again with the addition of darts to each side of center front creating the open rounded neck line of the 1840s. The sleeves appear to have been removed, enlarged and sewn back into the gown. Several stitch lines can be seen along the bottom of the armscye.

4. March 19, 1956: Repairs by Ernest LoNano. The repairs conducted by LoNano were extensive. Heavy darning along the center front, under arms, sleeves, and gown skirts along with heavy patching on the interior to support darning.
Label TextGown
Britain, silk textile 1745-1750, remodeled ca. 1780
Silk brocaded with silk, bodice lined with linen and linen-cotton, boning
1941-211, 1
The brocaded pattern of this silk textile has scattered flowers typical of the late 1740s. The cut of the gown indicates later remodeling around 1780 when fashion called for low necklines with prominent chests and edge-to-edge front closures. Shown with eighteenth-century quilted petticoat.