Waistcoat thumbnail 1
Waistcoat thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Waistcoat

1740-1749 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Glistening silver embroidery decorates the pocket flap of this blue silk waistcoat dating from the 1740s. Silver thread, purl (metal thread wound into a short coil), strip and spangles (sequins) comprise the decoration which covers the pocket flaps and the front and lower edges of the waistcoat. Each pocket flap has a button stitched on both corners and four sewn below. All are decorative and there are no buttonholes.

This waistcoat could have formed part of a wedding ensemble, as the combination of blue and silver was fashionable for the bridegroom in the 18th century. In Samuel Richardson’s novel, Pamela (1741), Mr B. wears such a waistcoat to his wedding to Pamela. Similarly, the hero of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Greaves, by Tobias Smollet (1760) marries in a ‘white coat and blue sattin vest, both embroidered with silver’.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silk, linen and possibly horsehair, hand woven and hand sewn, silver
Brief description
M, British, 1740s; Sleeveless, blue silk embroidered with silver thread
Physical description
A man's waistcoat of blue ribbed silk, embroidered with silver thread, strip, purl and spangles, lined with silk
Style
Production typeUnique
Credit line
Given by Mrs C. C. Stisted
Summary
Glistening silver embroidery decorates the pocket flap of this blue silk waistcoat dating from the 1740s. Silver thread, purl (metal thread wound into a short coil), strip and spangles (sequins) comprise the decoration which covers the pocket flaps and the front and lower edges of the waistcoat. Each pocket flap has a button stitched on both corners and four sewn below. All are decorative and there are no buttonholes.

This waistcoat could have formed part of a wedding ensemble, as the combination of blue and silver was fashionable for the bridegroom in the 18th century. In Samuel Richardson’s novel, Pamela (1741), Mr B. wears such a waistcoat to his wedding to Pamela. Similarly, the hero of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot Greaves, by Tobias Smollet (1760) marries in a ‘white coat and blue sattin vest, both embroidered with silver’.
Bibliographic reference
Hart, Avril and Susan North, Historical Fashion in Detail: The 17th and 18th Centuries, London: V&A Publications, 1998, p. 98
Collection
Accession number
T.29-1950

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Record createdAugust 15, 2006
Record URL
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