Coat
Date1725-1750, altered 1850-1920
OriginEngland
MediumSilk cut, uncut, and voided velvet; replaced silk linings; heavy inner paddings; thread buttons (probably replaced)
DimensionsL: 38 1/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1967-129,1
DescriptionCoat of beige, brown, and white cut and uncut silk velvet, patterned in small all-over design of leaf-forms with tendrils. Coat is collarless with long slightly-fitted waist and wide flared skirts with deeply pleated side-back vents. Narrow shoulder-line with sleeves becoming very large below the elbows and edged with wide cuffs 6 1/2" deep. Deep scalloped pocket flaps. Eighteen buttons covered with silk twist extend from neck to hem and additional buttons decorate pockets and cuffs. Long buttonholes worked with twisted silk are sewn shut; coat closed at waistline with one hook and eye. Coat lined with twill-woven white silk, worn and repaired with gold silk Persian. Coat was altered in nineteenth or twentieth century. Coat shortened and sleeves lengthened.Construction History:
1. 1725-1750 Initial Construction
2. 1850-1920; coat altered, body shortened above the pocket flaps and the sleeves lengthened by extending the sleeve under the cuff with taupe broadcloth and cotton lining. Buttonholes have been sewn shut and hook and eye added at waistline. Buttons appear to be replaced.
Label TextSuit Coat
Britain, 1725-1750, altered 1850-1920
Cut, uncut, and voided silk velvet trimmed with silk thread buttons, lined with later silk
1967-129, 1
A tall, large man would have been too big to wear this diminutive eighteenth-century silk velvet suit without the alterations. To lengthen the coat sleeves, the anonymous tailor who performed the alterations in the nineteenth or early twentieth century removed the cuffs and extended the sleeves with pieces of wool cloth. Then he reapplied the cuffs to cover the new sleeve extensions. Moving the cuffs down, however, revealed the cleaner antique textile that had originally been protected from fading and soiling under the cuff. Despite the elongation of the coat sleeves, the tailor truncated the coat at the waist, probably to conform to the fashion for shorter suit coats. Once-functional buttonholes are now sewn shut and the coat closed with a hook and eye. See 1967-129, 2 for the matching breeches.
The suit before alterations has an oral tradition of use by Sir William Fleming (1656-1736) of Rydal Hall, Westmorland, Great Britain.
ProvenanceSaid to be from Rydal Hall, Grasmere, Westmorland, and stated to have been worn by Sir William Fleming.
