Posy, bunch of flowers made using curled wire loops wound with silk ribbons and silk floss in red & green, Great Britain, ca. 1854

Feather quill, wrapped with gold silk thread and wire, bunch of flowers made using curled wire loops wound with silk ribbons and silk floss in red & green.

Given by Edward Nugée QC

Associated with the wedding of Elizabeth Wroughton Richards to the Reverend Andrew Nugee on 8th August 1854 at Farlington, Hampshire, very probably at St Andrew's..

Elizabeth Wroughton Richards (1820?-2/11/1877) was the daughter of Revd. Edward Tew Richards, Rector of Farlington (the next door parish to Wymering). The Richards were Rectors from 1782 to 1925. Following her husband's death, she went on to marry a Dr. Field in 1867, and died 10 years later.

Andrew Nugée (b.31/10/1813 - d.25/12/1858) was the 2nd son of Francis James Nugée who came from a family of Huguenot tailors who emigrated from Bordeaux to Cork between 1748-1752. They made a name for themselves with "Nugee's waistcoats" in the early 19th century. He was at Brasenose College, and became a curate in Lambeth prior to becoming Vicar of Wymering in 1851. The living was purchased by his father in the 1840s with a view to presenting his son as Vicar when the next vacancy should occur.

This posy is an unusual example of Victorian handicraft. The flowers are made from curled wire, looped and wound with silk ribbons and coloured silk floss yarn. The stem is a long feather quill wrapped in gold silk thread and wire. It is associated with a 1854 wedding in the donor’s family, but was probably intended as an accessory for an evening dress.

Many young middle- and upper-class women in the 19th century were supported by fathers, husbands or male guardians. They were not expected to work for a living, and so had to find pastimes to occupy their spare time. Needlework was considered a particularly desirable skill. Women’s magazines suggested a variety of other handicrafts such as featherwork, wax-flower modelling, and painting china. This posy would have been made at home using readily available materials, and is a rare survival.

T.13-2008