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Gown
Unknown - Enlarge image
Gown
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (made)
- Date:
1775-1780 (made)
1750-1759 (quilted) - Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Linen, hand woven and hand sewn, cotton cord
- Museum number:
759-1907
- Gallery location:
In Storage
A bedcover from the 1750s has been recycled into a stylish gown of the late 1770s. The densely corded ground of one edge of the former bedcover became the border of the gown skirt. The design of the quilting included stylised fruits and flowers with centres of diaper pattern on a spiral ground. A fine running stitch in linen thread outlines the compartments into which the cotton cord was drawn.
The skirt of the gown is box-pleated into a bodice with short straight sleeves ending in a narrow cuff over the elbow. The petticoat accompanying the gown was also made from a different bed cover of finer linen, but inferior quality of cording. When worn together however, the discrepancies would not have been evident. Together, the gown and petticoat made a cool, practical and elegant summer ensemble.
