Images(6)

Gown

Date1740-1750

OriginEngland

MediumHeavy ribbed silk; tabby linen bodice and sleeve lining; thin tabby silk skirt lining; silk ribbon hem binding.

DimensionsOverall length 58". Waist approx 19 1/2" without stomacher. Width approximately 36". Textile 19 7/8" wide from selvage to selvage.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1994-87

DescriptionWoman's gown of solid yellow ribbed silk of heavy quality. Gown styled with fitted bodice to be worn with stomacher or kerchief (missing). Full, cuffed sleeves to elbows. Front robings are pleated and open into the skirt fronts, without a front waist seam. Back bodice is pleated and stitched down, the center pleat extending in one with skirt ("English back"). Skirt is open at the center front, pleated to the bodice at the waist; the skirts extends to form wide side extensions to be worn with hoops. Slit at top of hoop skirt open for access to pockets; slit is bound with silk ribbon. The bodice and sleeves are lined with tabby linen, with small pockets in sleeve cuffs for weights. The front bodice lining has 4 pairs of buttonholes worked vertically, possibly for ribbon ties across the stomacher or kerchief. Skirt partially lined with thin yellow silk.
Note: Shown on mannequin with eighteenth-century kerchief accession #1971-170 and reproduction bow.
Label TextGown and Kerchief
Gown
Britain, 1740-1750
Ribbed silk, bodice lined with linen, skirt lined with silk, reproduction petticoat
Kerchief
Britain, 1745-1760
Cotton embroidered with linen
1994-87, 1971-170
Women's skirts achieved their greatest width during the 1740s. Side expansion, calculated to show off lavish patterned textiles, gave a flattened appearance to the gown when seen from the side.
ProvenancePurchased at auction in England around 1989. Said to be from the forbears of Lord Kyslant.