Coat
1895-1900 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This coat reflects the influence of the European Arts and Crafts Movement. It features a medieval-style collar and is covered in dramatic sprays of flowers, possibly intended to emulate the English wildflowers sweet cicely or cow parsley, hand-embroidered in yellow and green silk, with petals of white felt.
In the 1880s William Morris and other English artists rejected the dominance of the machine in British art and design. Their attempts to preserve the traditional designs and craftsmanship of textiles, furniture, ceramics and architecture created the Arts and Crafts style. Wild flowers were popular motifs, evoking the simplicity and charm of English country life, now vanishing in the face of urbanisation and the industrial revolution. Echoing these concerns, ‘Aesthetic’ dress of the 1870s rejected the fussy and upholstered look of women’s fashion. Although at first ridiculed, many of the decorative features of ‘Aesthetic’ dress were absorbed into mainstream fashion by the 1890s.
Marshall and Snelgrove were one of London’s exclusive department stores, founded in 1837 by James Marshall who was succeeded by his son in partnership with John Snelgrove in 1871. Bespoke dressmaking was an important feature of their store on Oxford Street and the coat combines the fashionable high collar and full sleeves with the artistic design of the embroidery.
In the 1880s William Morris and other English artists rejected the dominance of the machine in British art and design. Their attempts to preserve the traditional designs and craftsmanship of textiles, furniture, ceramics and architecture created the Arts and Crafts style. Wild flowers were popular motifs, evoking the simplicity and charm of English country life, now vanishing in the face of urbanisation and the industrial revolution. Echoing these concerns, ‘Aesthetic’ dress of the 1870s rejected the fussy and upholstered look of women’s fashion. Although at first ridiculed, many of the decorative features of ‘Aesthetic’ dress were absorbed into mainstream fashion by the 1890s.
Marshall and Snelgrove were one of London’s exclusive department stores, founded in 1837 by James Marshall who was succeeded by his son in partnership with John Snelgrove in 1871. Bespoke dressmaking was an important feature of their store on Oxford Street and the coat combines the fashionable high collar and full sleeves with the artistic design of the embroidery.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Embroidered velvet with silks, satin, felt, machine-made lace, lined with silk, canvas, metal |
| Brief description | Embroidered velvet coat with silks, satin and machine-made lace, made and retailed by Marshall and Snelgrove, England, 1895-1900. The coat is similar to photographs in the Worth archive and it is possible that it is a licenced design from Worth or a similar couture house. |
| Physical description | Purple velvet coat with a medieval-styled collar and white satin and lace panels. It is covered in dramatic sprays of stylised flowers similar to the wildflowers sweet cicely or cow parsley, embroidered in yellow and green silks in feather-stitch and couched work, and with petals of white felt and applied by means of a French knot in the centre worked in yellow silk. The coat is full length with a close fitting bodice, flared skirt cut in one piece, leg of mutton sleeves and a rounded stand-up collar. The main part of the coat is made up of five panels of velvet which are joined together by insertions of cream-coloured machine-made lace backed with cream-coloured silk. The sleeves have similar insertion. The velvet panels and sleeves are heavily embroidered. The coat is lined with cream-coloured silk and there is an inner lining of a woollen gauze-like fabric. The collar is lined with canvas and stiffened with wires. The coat fastens down the front with hooks and eyes. One of the sleeves has a trimming of machine-made lace. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Marshall & Snelgrove.
London (On label on collar) |
| Credit line | Given by Mrs A. Poliakoff |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This coat reflects the influence of the European Arts and Crafts Movement. It features a medieval-style collar and is covered in dramatic sprays of flowers, possibly intended to emulate the English wildflowers sweet cicely or cow parsley, hand-embroidered in yellow and green silk, with petals of white felt. In the 1880s William Morris and other English artists rejected the dominance of the machine in British art and design. Their attempts to preserve the traditional designs and craftsmanship of textiles, furniture, ceramics and architecture created the Arts and Crafts style. Wild flowers were popular motifs, evoking the simplicity and charm of English country life, now vanishing in the face of urbanisation and the industrial revolution. Echoing these concerns, ‘Aesthetic’ dress of the 1870s rejected the fussy and upholstered look of women’s fashion. Although at first ridiculed, many of the decorative features of ‘Aesthetic’ dress were absorbed into mainstream fashion by the 1890s. Marshall and Snelgrove were one of London’s exclusive department stores, founded in 1837 by James Marshall who was succeeded by his son in partnership with John Snelgrove in 1871. Bespoke dressmaking was an important feature of their store on Oxford Street and the coat combines the fashionable high collar and full sleeves with the artistic design of the embroidery. |
| Bibliographic reference | Karen Livingstone and Linda Parry, eds., International Arts & Crafts (V&A: V&A Publications, 2005), p.227. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.49-1962 |
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| Record created | March 14, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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