Man's night gown, 1750-1775, the Netherlands, of resist-dyed cotton with a red ground, the Coromandel Coast, lined with block-printed cotton, the Netherlands

Man's floor-length and long-sleeved chintz banyan night robe, loose cut, and lined with printed cotton. Red ground Indian floral chintz and lined with a block printed in red on a cream ground in a repeated stylised leaf pattern. T-shaped garment constructed on the same principles as that of a man's shirt. The back is made from a single width of cotton although it is not cut selvedge to selvedge. Both fronts and parts of the sleeves are continued from the back without shoulder seams. The under arm seams are continuous with the side seams. Additional width and shaping to the skirt of the garment is achieved by the insertion of two pairs of gussets in each side seam below pocket level and extending to the hem. The vertical pocket holes and bags of linen with pointed flaps are set into the side seam well below the cuffs of the sleeves. The lining is cut on the same principle to match the outer chintz, with a layer of wadding between them.

Purchased. Registered File number 1992/1253.

The chintz fabric was made in South-east India (the 'Coromandel Coast') for the Dutch market, and it was made into a man's night gown in the Netherlands, with a Dutch printed cotton lining.

The loosely cut style of this night gown (informal robe) for a man is based on that of the Japanese kimono, introduced to Western Europe in the mid-17th century. Night gowns in this new style became very popular, often made up of imported Indian chintz fabric, as in this case, as well as Indian and Chinese silks. Their generically 'oriental' air was part of a wider taste for exotic designs that formed part of the Chinoiserie style. Night gowns were also made of fashionable European silks and sturdy woollen plaids.

T.215-1992