Shirt
Date1800-1820
MediumLinen
DimensionsChest: 56 inches
Length: 35 inches
Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA
Object number2022-109
DescriptionMan’s linen shirt with very fine linen ruffles at the bosom slit. The shirt body is seamed on both the side and across the top of the shoulders, with the selvage edge running down body right. On the interior the shoulders are reinforced with wide pieces of linen extending all the way to the neck gussets. The shirt has large triangular neck gussets, but does not have a should strap. Both the collar and the cuffs retain heavy stiff starching. The ruffles down the center front are extremely fine, gathered directly to the shirt. Each ruffle has one large and two smaller tucks at the exterior edge. The shirt closes at the collar with two buttons and closes at the sleeves with buttons.Label TextShirts were the undermost garment that a man wore in the 18th and 19th century. Most shirts were long and constructed from basic squares and rectangles from linen fabric. This example worn in Virginia still retains a ruffle at the bosom slit, which was quickly falling from fashion, but continued to be worn by older members of society.
ProvenanceThis shirt was donated to the Valentine Museum in 1974 by Betsey Davidson Smith (1908-2010). The shirt was found in her grandparents’ home, Elizabeth Jane Sterrett Brown (1830-1877) and Adam MacChesney Brown (1829-1900) in Rockbridge County, Virginia. The shirt probably belonged to her great grandfather Robert Douglas Sterrett (1788-1861) who came to Virginia in the late 18th century from Ireland and settled in then Augusta County.
