Waistcoat
1770-1779 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Most of the patterning on this glittering 1770s waistcoat has been fashioned during the weaving of the silk fabric. The fabric was known as a silver tissue, and incorporated an additional weft of silver thread woven in with the green silk warp and weft. This created the silver stripe and wavy silver border seen on the pocket and hem of the waistcoat. Additional colours in the weave produced the red and white flowers and green stems.
Once off the loom, further decoration was added to the fabric with embroidered red foils and silver spangles. Striped fabrics were very fashionable in both men and women’s dress in the 1770s, heralding the geometrical patterning characteristic of Neo-classicism. This waistcoat is clearly in a transitional period, incorporating the flowers and meandering lines of the waning Rococo style.
Once off the loom, further decoration was added to the fabric with embroidered red foils and silver spangles. Striped fabrics were very fashionable in both men and women’s dress in the 1770s, heralding the geometrical patterning characteristic of Neo-classicism. This waistcoat is clearly in a transitional period, incorporating the flowers and meandering lines of the waning Rococo style.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Woven silk with silver thread, enamelling, silver purl & spangles, silk thread; hand-sewn and hand-embroidered |
| Brief description | Man's court waistcoat, 1770s, British, of French green and silver woven silk, embroidered with coloured silk threads, silver thread, spangles and foils |
| Physical description | Waistcoat, woven-to-shape in silver/green silk tissue, embroidered with red foils, silver purl & spangles |
| Credit line | Given by the Earl of Gosford |
| Summary | Most of the patterning on this glittering 1770s waistcoat has been fashioned during the weaving of the silk fabric. The fabric was known as a silver tissue, and incorporated an additional weft of silver thread woven in with the green silk warp and weft. This created the silver stripe and wavy silver border seen on the pocket and hem of the waistcoat. Additional colours in the weave produced the red and white flowers and green stems. Once off the loom, further decoration was added to the fabric with embroidered red foils and silver spangles. Striped fabrics were very fashionable in both men and women’s dress in the 1770s, heralding the geometrical patterning characteristic of Neo-classicism. This waistcoat is clearly in a transitional period, incorporating the flowers and meandering lines of the waning Rococo style. |
| Bibliographic reference | Avril Hart and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: the 17th and 18th centuries, London: V&A, 1998, p. 146
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.137-1921 |
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| Record created | July 20, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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