Images(6)

Sack, Saque, Robe à la Française

Date1750-1760

Maker Unidentified

OriginEngland

MediumSilk, linen, lead (weights in sleeves), tinned iron (pins)

DimensionsBust: 32 inches Waist 31.5 inches Gown center front: 48.5 inches Petticoat center front: 36 inches Damask Repeat: 41.5 inches Selvage to Selvage: 21.5 inches

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2020-140

DescriptionLarge-scale cream-colored damask gown with matching petticoat, stomacher now missing. The gown bodice is lined with white glazed linen and shows some pin scars from use. Each sleeve is weighted with a lead weight at the back of the sleeve and decorated with triple or “treble” flounces with double scalloped and punch work pinking. The sleeves are fully finished on the interior, unlike most gowns which are left unfinished. The interior of the gown retains two 18th-century pins on each shoulder used in construction probably to mark the shoulder placement of the robings. The center front of the gown skirts are made up with half a full width of silk with the “toothed” pinked raw edge at front. The trim going down the skirt is pinked, but with a “toothed” pattern. The hem of the gown is faced with very fine white lutestring or Persian silk, commonly found on other gowns. The petticoat is made up of matching damask with the rear panel made from the hem facing silk. Likewise, the entire petticoat is lined in the white hem facing material. The petticoat retains its original waistband with pocket slits, tying only at back. The petticoat trim matches the double scallop pattern found on the sleeve flounces. The trim shows several areas of heavy creasing which suggest the trim may have been altered early in this gown’s usage.

Construction History:
Textile Production ca 1749-50
1. Ca 1750 Initial Construction
2. Ca. 1760 Possible retrimming with evidence of heavy creasing found on the petticoat trims.