A man's coat and waistcoat, 1760s, French; Red and pink figured silk, appliqué chenille embroidery, gilt-brass foil, purl, spangles; altered 1870-1900

A man's coat and waistcoat woven with alternating wefts of red silk and pink silk chenille, figured with small floral motifs in pink and green. The coat has a round neckline, with a narrow standing collar (2.5 cm), with curved front edges. The shaped, two-piece sleeves reach to above the wrist, and end with round cuffs. The coat fronts curve from neck to chest and continue straight to the hem, with skirts below the hip, set in pleats at the sides. There is an inverted pleat on each side of the centre back opening. There is a scalloped pocket flap on each front. The pockets and sleeves are lined with bleached linen, the pocket flaps with white twill silk. The coat fronts are interlined with buckram and padded with flannel at the chest, the cuffs, side edges of the skirts and edges of the back vent are also interlined with buckram. The coat is decorated with embroidery in repeating pattern of floral sprigs, worked in silk and chenille threads in red, pink and shapes of green, and gilt-brass foil, silver-gilt thread, purl and spangles, worked on linen, cut out and applied. The decoration runs around the neck of the coat fronts and down the front edges, around the pockets and the pocket flaps, around the cuffs. along the side of the front skirts, and around the back vent. There were 19 (one now missing) large buttons covered with gilt-brass foil and embroidered with silver-gilt spangles and purl, on the right front, and 4 buttonholes, worked in pink and red silk twist, on the left front, corresponding with the centre 4 buttons at the waist. There are 4 buttons on the cuffs, 5 below each pocket flap, one above the pleats on each side.

The waistcoat fronts are made of the same silk. The neckline is round, the fronts curve from neck to hem, ending about mid-thigh with skirts below the hip. There is a scalloped pocket flap on each waistcoat front at hip level. The pockets are lined with bleached linen, the pocket flaps with white silk satin. The fronts are lined with linen, the front skirts with white silk satin, and the front edges faced with the satin. The waistcoat is decorated with the same applique embroidery, down the fronts and across the front hem, around the pockets and pocket flaps. There are 15 buttons on the right front, and the left front has a fly front with a band of the silk underneath, with 8 buttonholes, corresponding to the buttons, mid-chest to waist. There are 5 small buttons of silver-gilt foil and purl, in a different pattern to those on the coat.

The coat and waistcoat were altered in the late 19th century, probably for theatrical wear. The coat has been relined with linen and cream silk satin. The pleats have been reconfigured and the wide cuffs narrowed. The back seam of the sleeves appears to have been taken in and let out again.The back skirts of the waistcoat were probably originally made of the figured silk. The back is probably a later replacement in bleached linen, the centre seam of which has been opened, and linen ties added, to accommodate a larger wearer. The buttons on the waistcoat front are probably a later replacement.

Purchased from Messrs. Fulgence & Fils, 71 Rue la Boëtie, Paris in 1904

Large petals of gilt-brass foil scatter across this opulent waistcoat. The use of such flashy decoration is typical of men’s dress between 1750 and 1780. Foils were made of thin sheets of metal, usually silver or brass, that were often gilt or coloured with enamel. Simple floral or leaf shapes were stamped out and perforated at the edges so they could be sewn to the fabric. A border of purl (short coils of metal thread) was worked around the perimeter of the foil to hide its raw edges.

The waistcoat and its matching coat are made of a fabric with an unusual weave of alternative wefts of silk and chenille thread. Worked into these are the patterning wefts of pink and green silk that create the small woven floral motifs. The fabric is further enhanced with appliquéd chenille and silk flowers embroidered in chain stitch with silver-gilt spangles and the foil flowers. This degree of decoration on an early 1760s ensemble indicates that it would have been worn as formal or evening dress.

1571&A-1904