for a ballgown, silk, c.1903, English; Charles Condor. Painted silk.

Watercolour design on silk intended to be used as the train of a ball-gown

'The design is really not at all abnormal, if one only understands how women's fashions change. It is a train for a woman's dress and Conder designed it at a time when women wore such things. It was to be lined with chiffon (now also out of fashion!) and hung like a Court train from the shoulders.' Note by Mrs Cecil Lawson, from whom the train was purchased in 1930.

Historical significance: Conder is known to have painted decorations on silk dresses, often whilst the wearer stood inside. A commission for a painted dress mentioned in correspondence with Will Rothenstein, was for a Russian princess visiting Paris, and in London Lady Ottoline Morrell expressed an interest in having a painted dress by Conder. Hand-decorated dresses were a feature of Art Nouveau and in 1901 at the Societe National des Beaux-Arts a dress was exhibited for the first time amongst the paintings and sculpture. Designed by Victor Prouve, a collaborator of Emile Galle, with embroidery by Courtex it was thought to exhibit the quality of a work of art.

Henry van der Velde made a number of efforts to integrate women's fashions into Art Nouveau style, designing dresses for his wife. However these, like the loose fitting 'reform dress' movement which originated in Berlin in 1886, did not prove popular in Paris. The Germans persisted and in 1898 competitions were organised throughout the country for a new 'national dress'. The prize-winning designs were exhibited in Berlin, together with designs by van der Velde, from which emerged the more successful 'new reform dress'. This did away with the corset in favour of a Princess-type dress which hung from the shoulders without a wasitline with long, full sleeves and sometimes with a train that flel from the shoulders.

Conder won contemporary fame above all for his watercolours on silk. They represent a large proportion of his oeuvre and were first begun in the early 1890s when he had been living in France for some years.

Charles Conder, who created the watercolour design, is known to have painted decorations on silk dresses, often while the wearer was wearing the garment.

Unfortunately we know very little about this train. What we can say is that it probably dates from around 1903 and was done for Mrs Florence Humphrey, an enthusiastic attender of fancy dress balls. By the late 1890s the 'new reform dress' was becoming more popular. This did away with the corset in favour of a Princess-type dress which hung from the shoulders without a waistline with long, full sleeves and sometimes with a train that fell from the shoulders. The train is perhaps best described as an extreme example of the demand for Conder's watercolour decorations favoured by wealthy and fashionable women.

E.2380-1930