Jacket thumbnail 1
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Not currently on display at the V&A

Jacket

Jacket
1830-1879 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Adding embroidery to silk velvet, which is one of the most sumptuous fabrics, can seem unnecessary, but few will deny that the results can be astonishing. This red velvet jacket has been smothered with gold thread, laid on the surface in intricate interlacings and secured to the velvet by minute, almost invisible silk stitches. The use of the couching technique ensured that no expensive metal thread was wasted by being taken through to the reverse side.

Lines of yellow tacking stitches were used to mark out the main areas of the pattern, and were often left in place when the embroidery was finished. Pins would have been used to secure small areas of metal threads in their convoluted swirls until they were couched in place. Because velvet is a pile fabric it is difficult to mark a pattern onto it for the embroiderer to follow. At best only the general outlines could be given, so although the pattern on the two front panels is very similar, it is not identical.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleJacket
Materials and techniques
Silk velvet, embroidered with metal thread.
Brief description
Jacket, embroidered velvet, Greece (Attica or Athens), 1800s.
Physical description
Woman's jacket of silk velvet embroidered with gold metal thread. Long sleeves, with embroidery worked round the cuffs, down the opening in front, along the lower end of the jacket, and on part of the sleeves and the back. The embroidery consists of interlaced bonds, special ornament and foliage. There is a scalloped edging of yellow silk cord and gold thread.
Dimensions
  • Including collar height: 18in (Note: Measurement taken from historic register, and has not been checked. )
  • From sleeve to sleeve width: 54in (Note: Measurement taken from historic register, and has not been checked. )
Measurements taken from historical records, have not been checked.
Object history
In the original register, the garment is described as Albanian, 18th or 19th century.

Purchased along with T.755 to 839-1919 from Harold Wallis, the son of pre-Raphelite painter Henry Wallis.
Subject depicted
Summary
Adding embroidery to silk velvet, which is one of the most sumptuous fabrics, can seem unnecessary, but few will deny that the results can be astonishing. This red velvet jacket has been smothered with gold thread, laid on the surface in intricate interlacings and secured to the velvet by minute, almost invisible silk stitches. The use of the couching technique ensured that no expensive metal thread was wasted by being taken through to the reverse side.

Lines of yellow tacking stitches were used to mark out the main areas of the pattern, and were often left in place when the embroidery was finished. Pins would have been used to secure small areas of metal threads in their convoluted swirls until they were couched in place. Because velvet is a pile fabric it is difficult to mark a pattern onto it for the embroiderer to follow. At best only the general outlines could be given, so although the pattern on the two front panels is very similar, it is not identical.
Bibliographic reference
Crill, Rosemary, Jennifer Wearden and Verity Wilson. Dress in Detail from Around the World. London: V&A Publications, 2002. 224 p., ill. ISBN 09781851773787. p. 92
Collection
Accession number
T.773-1919

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Record createdFebruary 5, 2004
Record URL
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