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Jacket

1800-1860 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Jacket of woven silk and metal thread lined with roller printed cotton and faced with woven wool and with a part interlining of silk and metal thread.
Short-sleeved, hip length jacket. Central back panel, shoulder seams. Pieces added to the sides to form a flare with pronounced curved section over the hips. Short sleeves pieced at the back. There is a diamond shaped opening under each arm. Small stand-up collar nicely seamed around the neck. Very wide opening at the front tapering to the bottom; no overlap.
Main fabric: 'gold' ground [silver-gilt close S-wound on a yellow silk core]. White leaves form an ogival lattice with a 4-petalled flowerhead where the lines meet. There are two types of floral spray in rows: [1] green leaves, pink flower which is not quite open and two large and two small buds; [2] round pink flower, fully opened, surrounded by 4 round buds and 2 flowers; green leaves.
Lining: roller printed cotton with a pink and red marble effect; faded at the front opening.
Facing: striped woollen: red and white stripes each with a small floral sprig. There is evidence of an interlining under the facing - it has no pattern and seems to be a white fabric woven with a silver metal thread.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
cotton yarn, woollen yarn, silk thread, metal thread, weaving, printing, sewing
Brief description
Woman's jacket, woven silk and metal thread, lined with European roller-printed cotton, Iran, 1800-60
Physical description
Jacket of woven silk and metal thread lined with roller printed cotton and faced with woven wool and with a part interlining of silk and metal thread.
Short-sleeved, hip length jacket. Central back panel, shoulder seams. Pieces added to the sides to form a flare with pronounced curved section over the hips. Short sleeves pieced at the back. There is a diamond shaped opening under each arm. Small stand-up collar nicely seamed around the neck. Very wide opening at the front tapering to the bottom; no overlap.
Main fabric: 'gold' ground [silver-gilt close S-wound on a yellow silk core]. White leaves form an ogival lattice with a 4-petalled flowerhead where the lines meet. There are two types of floral spray in rows: [1] green leaves, pink flower which is not quite open and two large and two small buds; [2] round pink flower, fully opened, surrounded by 4 round buds and 2 flowers; green leaves.
Lining: roller printed cotton with a pink and red marble effect; faded at the front opening.
Facing: striped woollen: red and white stripes each with a small floral sprig. There is evidence of an interlining under the facing - it has no pattern and seems to be a white fabric woven with a silver metal thread.
Dimensions
  • Length: 59cm
  • Across sleeves and shoulders width: 90.5cm
Gallery label
Jacket, Blouse and Skirt Iran About 1800–40 Women of the Qajar court in early 19th-century Tehran would have worn this combination of short jacket, gauzy open-fronted blouse and voluminous skirt. They would have henna-painted hands and feet, and sometimes even painted bodies. A painting on the wall opposite this case show Qajar women wearing similar clothing.Woven silk with metal thread, silk embroidery and seed pearls Museum nos. 730-1884, T.57-1979 Jameel Gallery(31/08/2012)
Bibliographic references
  • Illustrated in 'Iranian Textiles' by Jennifer Wearden and Patricia L Baker, V&A Publishing 2010, fig. 29 page 47.
  • John Curtis, Ina Sarikhani Sandmann and Tim Stanley, Epic Iran: 5000 Years of Culture, London: V&A Publishing, 2021, p.272, cat. no. 203.
Collection
Accession number
730-1884

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Record createdOctober 8, 2008
Record URL
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