Images(2)

Apron

Date1830-1850

OriginAmerica, Mid-Atlantic or New England (probably)

MediumPlain-weave white cotton; cotton thread

DimensionsOH. including waistband = 27 1/4" (69.2 cm.) OW. of bottom = 28" (71.1 cm.) Waistband and ties = 32 1/4" long. Apron top where gathered into waistband = 10". 1/8" hem on sides, 5/16" hem at bottom.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979.610.1

DescriptionThis is an apron consisting of plain-weave white cotton gathered on a 1" waistband. The ties are a continuation of the waistband. It has a stenciled repeat of green leaves and pink rosebuds on sides and bottom. The inside of one tie has part of a rosebud (presumably inadvertently) stenciled onto it. The stitching was done by hand with cotton thread. The sides have 1/8-inch hems and the bottom has a 5/16-inch hem.
Label TextDecorative aprons were a popular accessory. Examples such as this were more for show than for function. Stenciling was done with dye or paint tamped through cut-out designs on a stencil. The technique was especially popular for bed covers and other household furnishings in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.
ProvenancePurchased from Farmington, Connecticut, by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in December 9, 1952. Accessioned by the Department of Collections in 1954, and transferred to the AARFAC in 1979.

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