Cloak
Date1760-1775
MediumSheer silk gauze (leno weave, brocaded)
DimensionsOL including hood: 33" at center front.
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1993-337
DescriptionWoman's shaped, hooded shoulder mantle or cloak of black gauze silk, woven with square mesh, with isolated leaves and sprigs woven in brocading variant scattered on surface. Cape gathered to ribbon band at neck, shaped to hang down in points at center front, curved up over arms. Self fabric ruffle trim 2 3/4" deep. Center back weight. Small hood is gathered at center back with material fanning out from center seam.Label TextLace Cloak
England, 1760-1775
Silk leno net, brocaded with silk; silk ribbon; lead weights
1993-337
Lace cloaks were fashionable accessories for wearing over silk gowns. In Williamsburg, Virginia, milliners sold similar cloaks of black or blond (silk) lace. This cloak is made of sheer fabric yardage woven on a loom or frame to imitate true lace. The shaped pieces for the cloak were cut from the flat textile using the full selvage width of approximately 23 1/2". If the cloak had been made of true bobbin or needlepoint lace, the shaping would have been done in the lacemaking process. The hood has pleats radiating from the center back seam, a typical hood-shaping method in the eighteenth century. Three lead weights covered with silk help the thin silk to drape gracefully at the back.
