Gown
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (hand sewn)
India (hand woven)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Hand-woven, hand-painted and hand-sewn cotton and linen
- Credit Line:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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A deep round collar finishes the neckline of this stylish open gown made of hand-painted Indian cotton. The high-waisted bodice is shaped front and back with box pleats arranged in groups of three, falling loose at the back to form a train. Variations in the depths of the individual pleats indicate that they were the principal method of fitting the gown to the wearer.
The very slight irregularities between the repeats of the pattern show that the cotton has been painted, rather than printed, and executed with great skill. The process involved applying each colour by brush or resist dyeing in stages. India was the primary source for painted cottons throughout the 18th century and those used in European dress were made expressly for export. By the 1790s, Indian textile painters had long been using European pattern books and swatches of European textiles as templates for their designs.
Physical description
Woman's open gown of hand-painted Indian cotton and linen. Hand-woven and hand-sewn. Mordant dyed.
Cut without a waist seam, and constructed from two and a half pieces of fabric, 42 inches wide selvedge to selvedge, and gathered into 10 box pleats which run vertically from the neck down the full length of the garment. The high waisted bodice is lined with fine white linen which extends to form the lining of the front bodice panel. At the front of the bodice opening on the left-hand side is a waist or belt fastener made from matching chintz and trimmed with a cream loop cord braid. The belt is lined in white cotton with blue threads in the selvedge denoting English origin. The robe has a deep rounded collar with square ends in matching material. The full length fitted sleeves fastens at each wrist with three Dorset buttons and are lined with white fustian.
Place of Origin
Great Britain, UK (hand sewn)
India (hand woven)
Date
1795-1800 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Hand-woven, hand-painted and hand-sewn cotton and linen
Dimensions
Length: 70 in back, neck to hem, Length: 72 in front, shoulder to hem, Circumference: 14 in bust, Length: 14 in repeat, Width: 14 in repeat
Object history note
Registered File number 1992/524.
The hand-painted and mordant dyed glazed chintz was produced in India for the European market (British). The design consists of delicately painted trailing stems bearing naturalistic flowers and berries in a polychrome palette (red, pink, green, blue and green) on a white ground.
Descriptive line
Woman's open gown of cotton and linen, hand-painted and woven in India, sewn in Great Britain, 1795-1800
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Hart, Avril and Susan North. Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries. London: V&A Publications, 1998, p. 78
Materials
Cotton (textile); Linen (material)
Techniques
Hand sewing; Hand painted; Hand weaving
Subjects depicted
Flowers; Leaves; Berries
Categories
Textiles; Fashion; Women's clothes
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
T&F
