Stays
Date1740-1760
MediumGreen worsted satin, linen (lining, thread), baleen (boning), paper (stiffening)
DimensionsLength: 9" Width: 19" Waist 16 3/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1964-405
DescriptionChild's stays (corset) of green worsted satin, boned in vertical rows with backstitching in white linen thread, and lined with tabby linen. Some seams are trimmed with narrow linen tape appliqued over some seams; bound with a different linen tape. Stays are made without shoulder straps, with tabs over the hips and back-lacing eyelets (seven on each side.) Paper and dark boning (baleen) are visible as part of inner stiffening.Construction History:
1. 1740-1760 Initial Construction
2. Date Unknown- mended with green wool alng the center back opening with an overcast stitch, and along the center front curved lower edge
3. Date Unknown- Darned with a patch on the central region of the right back
4. Date Unknown- third tab from the right back has been darned with white thread, as well as the right center front tab.
Label TextChildren as young as three months old were put into stays. This pair laces up the back through hand-worked eyelets. The waist measures about 17 inches.
ProvenanceEx. Coll.: Glen-Sanders family, Scotia, New York. Exhibited at Fashion Institute of Technology, "Age of Innocence," 1979-1980.
