Waistcoat
Date1800-1820
OriginEurope, Spain
MediumSilk and silver twill, embroidered with silver, lined with silk twill, inner lined with tabby linen.
DimensionsOL: 25"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1941-215,3
DescriptionWaistcoat to three piece suit of silk twill woven with silver in the weft ("cloth of silver or silver tissue"), embroidered on collar front, down center fronts and around hem, and on pocket flaps with silver threads, bullion, sequins and silver beads in a pattern of leaves and acorns. Waistcoat has high standing collar, center front opening with 9 buttons and four functional buttonholes, with hem cut away on angle. Shallow, shaped pocket flaps hiding functional pockets of tabby linen and lined in the flaps with silk twill. Back a single layer of tabby cotton and linen with center back tape attached to back of back at waist and projecting through a pair of eyelets. Lined with original cream silk twill.Label TextFormal or Court Suit
Spain, 1800-1820
Silk velvet, silk woven with silver threads, and silk twill, all embroidered with silver gilt, sequins, and beads, lined with silk and cotton-linen, reproduction ruffles
1941-215, 1-3.
Combining brilliant color, elegant materials, and heavy metallic embroidery, this suit epitomizes the richness of men's European court wear in the early nineteenth century. The silhouette is attenuated, with slim skirts and a high collar that reaches almost to the ears. In contrast to earlier suits of the mid-eighteenth century, shoulders are square and broad. The shape of the coat, which curves away from the body, hints at the cutaway coat that becomes the standard for men's formal wear into the twenty-first century.
