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Domino

1765 - 1770 (sewing), ca. 1775 (altered)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A woman's domino of pink silk lustring, opening at the front. The back is made of 2 widths of silk; the fronts of a partial width and triangular gore, which are pleated into a collar. The fronts and back are seamed at the shoulder and pleated to a shoulder strap of silk on the inside. Also sewn into the collar with the body of the dominao is a deep cape. The sleeves are a width of silk, pleated and sewn to a cuff at the wrist and pleated at the shoulder. There is a gusset under each sleeve. Set into the shoulder with the sleeve is a long wing-like over-sleeve. Tacked to the top of the collar is a hood, a rectangle of silk pleated and seamed together on one side. The front edges of the domino are edged with a pinked gathered ruching of silk. Additional bands of ruching arranged in serpentine lines adorn the fronts, along with rosettes of ruching. A band of pinked scalloped ruching is sewn to the pinked and scalloped edges of the over sleeves. A band of similar ruching edges the sleeve cuffs and forms the ties at the wrist. The shoulder cape is also edged with pinked scalloped ruching. The domino fastens at the neck with a self covered button on the right side of the collar and a worked buttonhole on the left.

Sometime in the 1770s, the hood was altered to accommodate the higher hairstyles of the decade. It was partially unpicked and a triangle of silk added each side of the front. A band of ruching was added afterwards to the front edge of the hood and another band around the collar inside the hood.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silk, silk thread; hand-woven and hand-sewn
Brief description
A domino for a man or woman, 1765-1770, English; Pink silk lustring with cape and hood; altered c1775
Physical description
A woman's domino of pink silk lustring, opening at the front. The back is made of 2 widths of silk; the fronts of a partial width and triangular gore, which are pleated into a collar. The fronts and back are seamed at the shoulder and pleated to a shoulder strap of silk on the inside. Also sewn into the collar with the body of the dominao is a deep cape. The sleeves are a width of silk, pleated and sewn to a cuff at the wrist and pleated at the shoulder. There is a gusset under each sleeve. Set into the shoulder with the sleeve is a long wing-like over-sleeve. Tacked to the top of the collar is a hood, a rectangle of silk pleated and seamed together on one side. The front edges of the domino are edged with a pinked gathered ruching of silk. Additional bands of ruching arranged in serpentine lines adorn the fronts, along with rosettes of ruching. A band of pinked scalloped ruching is sewn to the pinked and scalloped edges of the over sleeves. A band of similar ruching edges the sleeve cuffs and forms the ties at the wrist. The shoulder cape is also edged with pinked scalloped ruching. The domino fastens at the neck with a self covered button on the right side of the collar and a worked buttonhole on the left.

Sometime in the 1770s, the hood was altered to accommodate the higher hairstyles of the decade. It was partially unpicked and a triangle of silk added each side of the front. A band of ruching was added afterwards to the front edge of the hood and another band around the collar inside the hood.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 0.84kg
  • Hem to top of hood at centre front length: 175.0cm (approx)
Production typeUnique
Object history
Purchased at Christie's, 15 July 1968, lot 191. Said to have belonged to the family of Colonel Sir John Carew Pole, Bart. DSO TD
Bibliographic reference
Janet Arnold, 'A Pink Domino c. 1760-70 at the Victoria and Albert Museum'. Costume, 1969, no. 3, pp. 31-34
Collection
Accession number
T.195-1968

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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