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Sack

1740s (embroidered), 1765 - 1770 (altered), 1870 - 1907 (altered)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A woman's sack and petticoat of dark beige silk embroidered with coloured silks in a pattern of flowering trees and floral motifs. The sack is open at the front with robings to the waist and elbow-length sleeves with triple, scalloped sleeve ruffles. The bodice and sleeves are lined with different qualities of linen. The back has two double box pleats, stitched at the neckline. A waist seam extends from the front openings to the bodice side back seam. The sack is made of 2 widths of silk, with a partial panel and triangular gore on each side of the front. The bodice robings and sleeve ruffles are embroidered, and a long triangular robing adorns each side of the front.

The petticoat is made of 5 widths of silk, pleated at the waist and embroidered all over. It is lined with white silk taffeta and faced with dark beige silk ribbon at the hem and both pocket openings.

The sack was probably originally a mantua and remade in the late 1760s; the skirts are extensively pieced. A new lining was made for the bodice. The petticoat was probably unpicked at the waist and reconfigured; the lining and ribbon facings were probably added at that time.

In the late 19th century, the robings of the bodice were unpicked. The waist binding of the petticoat was removed and the waist reconfigured with a machine-sewn waistband (now removed); two new pocket openings were added.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Sack
  • Petticoat
Materials and techniques
silk, linen, silk thread, linen thread; hand-woven, hand-embroidered, hand-sewn
Brief description
A woman's sack, 1765-70 and petticoat, 1740s, English; dark beige silk, embroidered with coloured silks in a design of flowering trees and floral motifs; altered 1870-1907
Physical description
A woman's sack and petticoat of dark beige silk embroidered with coloured silks in a pattern of flowering trees and floral motifs. The sack is open at the front with robings to the waist and elbow-length sleeves with triple, scalloped sleeve ruffles. The bodice and sleeves are lined with different qualities of linen. The back has two double box pleats, stitched at the neckline. A waist seam extends from the front openings to the bodice side back seam. The sack is made of 2 widths of silk, with a partial panel and triangular gore on each side of the front. The bodice robings and sleeve ruffles are embroidered, and a long triangular robing adorns each side of the front.

The petticoat is made of 5 widths of silk, pleated at the waist and embroidered all over. It is lined with white silk taffeta and faced with dark beige silk ribbon at the hem and both pocket openings.

The sack was probably originally a mantua and remade in the late 1760s; the skirts are extensively pieced. A new lining was made for the bodice. The petticoat was probably unpicked at the waist and reconfigured; the lining and ribbon facings were probably added at that time.

In the late 19th century, the robings of the bodice were unpicked. The waist binding of the petticoat was removed and the waist reconfigured with a machine-sewn waistband (now removed); two new pocket openings were added.
Dimensions
  • Silk, selvedge to selvedge width: 68.0cm
Production typeUnique
Object history
Purchased from Miss M A Vickers in 1907, together with 835-1907 for £15.
Bibliographic references
  • Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion, edited by Lesley Ellis Miller and Ana Cabrera Lafuente with Claire Allen-Johnstone, Thames and Hudson Ltd. in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, 2021, p. 433
  • Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6. This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021)
Collection
Accession number
834-1907

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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