Dress Holder thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Dress Holder

ca. 1880 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Dress holders, known from the 1840s, were used to lift dresses slightly to make walking easier. In 1876, Ardern Holt wrote in The Queen, a periodical, that 'As the trains of outdoor dresses get longer and longer a serviceable dress holder becomes more and more indispensable...What we expect of a dress holder is to grasp the dress tightly, and to retain its hold firmly without injuring the material in any way; besides, the mechanism should be capable of being easily applied, as well as of being easily detached.'

This dress holder would have been suspended by a chain from a chatelaine hook worn on the girdle of a woman's dress. It claims to be 'The Duchess of Connaught Patent', named in honour of Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, who married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and son of Queen Victoria, in 1879.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Base metal electroplated in silver
Brief description
Dress holder, silver electroplate, designed by B. Brothers, United Kingdom, ca. 1880
Physical description
Dress holder made of silver electroplate decorated on the two principal arms with low-relief fruiting laurel. The laurel decoration is inscribed with 'THE DUCHESS OF CONNAUGHT PATENT. B.BROS'. When a ring at the top is pulled upwards, it operates a mechanism inside the arms which brings together two small levers to act as jaws which would have held a fold of a woman's dress. When the ring is allowed to drop down, the levers move apart and the fabric is released. The grips of the two small levers are made of a dark cross-hatched material (untested).
Dimensions
  • Height: 77mm
  • Width: 62mm
  • Depth: 12mm
Marks and inscriptions
'THE DUCHESS OF CONNAUGHT PATENT. B.BROS.' (On mechanism inside the arms of the skirt holder. A number of makers who made silver or electroplate and used variations of a mark including 'B. Bros' are known, including Burgess Brothers of Birmingham, but confirmation that the firm made dress holders would be welcomed. )
Credit line
Given by Robert Church
Object history
Dress holders were devised to lift the outer skirt of a woman's dress when walking. There were many designs, including 'The Grappler', 'The Surprise' and 'The Eureka'. This example was a patent design named in honour of Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, who became Duchess of Connaught on her marriage on 13 March 1879 to Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, son of Queen Victoria.

The donor records that the dress holder was almost certainly owned by Mrs W. E. (Annie) Wallace (née Frankham, 1856-1943), whose husband, William Henry Wallace, was a noted floriculturalist. He won the Royal Horticultural Society Victoria Medal of Honour in 1927, and was a county alderman and Justice of the Peace. The firm of W. E. Wallace and Son Limited specialised in carnations, following the gift of some cuttings from Leopold de Rothschild in 1904. Carnations were supplied to among others, Buckingham Palace and the Royal Yacht. W.E. Wallace's son was William Henry Wallace whose sister, Mrs P. S. (Winifred May) Oates (1900-92) definitely owned the dress holder. From her it passed to a daughter of W. H. Wallace, Enid. M. Church (née Wallace; 1913-2008).
Subjects depicted
Summary
Dress holders, known from the 1840s, were used to lift dresses slightly to make walking easier. In 1876, Ardern Holt wrote in The Queen, a periodical, that 'As the trains of outdoor dresses get longer and longer a serviceable dress holder becomes more and more indispensable...What we expect of a dress holder is to grasp the dress tightly, and to retain its hold firmly without injuring the material in any way; besides, the mechanism should be capable of being easily applied, as well as of being easily detached.'

This dress holder would have been suspended by a chain from a chatelaine hook worn on the girdle of a woman's dress. It claims to be 'The Duchess of Connaught Patent', named in honour of Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, who married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and son of Queen Victoria, in 1879.
Bibliographic references
  • Cummins, Genevieve E, and Nerylla D. Taunton. Chatelaines: Utility to Glorious Extravagance. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1994.
  • Ridgway, Maurice H., and Philip T. Priestley. The Compendium of Chester Gold and Silver Marks 1570 - 1962. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 2004.
Collection
Accession number
M.9-2012

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 30, 2012
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest