Stomacher
1720-1740 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A stomacher was worn by women primarily between the 1670s and 1780s. It was a triangular piece of fabric that filled the gap at the front of a gown. Stomachers could be made of material matching or contrasting with the gown and petticoat. Many were highly decorative, as in this example, richly embroidered with coloured silks in a design of flowers, birds and figure in exotic costume. It also features non-functional lacing of silver braid.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Silk, baleen, silver; hand-woven, hand-embroidered, hand-sewn |
| Brief description | Woman's stomacher of ivory silk taffeta, 1720-1740, British; embroidered with coloured silks and silver thread, chinoiserie design |
| Physical description | Woman’s stomacher of ivory silk taffeta, reinforced with baleen and lined with yellow silk sarsenet. It is embroidered with coloured silk twist in stem, satin, long and short stitches and couched with silver filé and narrow woven silver lace (braid) in a chinoiserie-inspired design with the figure of a man in non-European costume, exotic birds, flowers and butterflies. The stomacher is triangular with a shaped point and 3 narrow, short skirts on each side. There is decorative lacing across the embroidery and 3 short loops of ivory silk grosgrain ribbon on each side for fastening. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs W. T. Alderson |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | A stomacher was worn by women primarily between the 1670s and 1780s. It was a triangular piece of fabric that filled the gap at the front of a gown. Stomachers could be made of material matching or contrasting with the gown and petticoat. Many were highly decorative, as in this example, richly embroidered with coloured silks in a design of flowers, birds and figure in exotic costume. It also features non-functional lacing of silver braid. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.99-1962 |
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| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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