Images(2)

Banyan

Date1770-1810

OriginAsia, India (textile) and England (probably) (gown)

MediumMordant painted and dyed cotton "chintz", silk facing; cotton linings. Cotton and silk sewing threads.

DimensionsOL; from back collar 55 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1954-1010

DescriptionMan's fitted banyan of Indian chintz (mordant painted and dyed cotton) in an all-over design of thin vines with pink, blue, and lavender flowers. Standing collar and fronts are faced with pink ribbed silk that forms narrow bias piping. The front opening laps left over right and ties with self fabric ties, with additional inner ties to hold the under lap in position. Tight sleeves curve over the elbows, ending in stitched-down cuffs piped with pink, each closing with two functional buttons. The top of the garment and the long skirts are cut in one piece without a waist seam. The back is shaped with a center seam and two seams curving from the shoulders, flaring out into a full skirt. Pockets sewn into the curving seams below the waist.

Construction History:

1. 1770-1810: Initial construction
2. January 24, 1956: Cleaning, checking, restoring by Ernest LoNano.
Label TextBanyan
East Indian textile, made in Britain, 1770-1810
Mordant-painted and dyed cotton chintz faced with silk, lined with cotton
1954-1010

Banyans, or gowns, were loose garments put on for casual wear during the day or before a man was formally dressed. With them, men wore caps, shirts, waistcoats, breeches, stockings, and shoes or slippers.

This finely woven cotton chintz was mordant painted and resist dyed by hand in an allover pattern of delicate vines with pink, blue, and lavender flowers. Men did not hesitate to wear floral patterns and bright colors during the eighteenth century.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Frank Moss Bennett, twentieth-century British history painter.