Shirt
Date1760-1784
MediumWhite linen, linen bobbin lace.
DimensionsOL: 8 3/4" OW: 21 1/2"
Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Charles D. Carey.
Object number1991-1180,1
DescriptionInfant's shirt of white plain-woven linen, trimmed around neck and ends of sleeves with bobbin lace. Shirt has slightly squared neckline edged with lace and insertions of lace at the top of the shoulders. Full, long sleeves with gussets under arms, ending in narrow bands edged with lace curving up to edge the placket of sleeve. Sleeve bands have hand-worked buttonholes for wear with separate removable sleeve buttons. Shirt opens down front without closures. The body is cut straight. Herringbone stitch edging at all hems. Construction Note: the shirt lace and construction appear to predate 1760, but the presence of herringbone stitches may suggest a later date for the construction. The shirt came with a pair of small gold hexagonal link buttons, cataloged as #2 a-b. They are engraved in a radiating floral pattern.
Label TextThis lace-trimmed shirt and associated cuff links have a history of use by Jane Hodge (later Mrs. Thomas Nichols) of Maine, who was born about 1784. The linked gold buttons descended in the family with the shirt, although their design appears earlier than the 1780s, when Jane Hodge would have worn them. The sleeve buttons may have been handed down from the previous generation.
ProvenanceBelonged to Jane Hodge Nichols, wife of Thomas Nichols, dates 1784-1861, Maine. See letters in file of G1991-1176.
