Block printed, fine plain weave cotton coat, lined with coarse plain weave cotton and faced with bias-cut, coarse plain weave dark brown cotton with a striped silk facing on the lower sleeves. Trimmed with bias-cut patterned woven silk with metal thread, narrow green and red ribbons and black braid with small buttons and loops.
Structure: on the back there is a central panel to which have been added side pieces to add width to the upper torso and flare over the hips. There is a shoulder seam and the sleeves are attached at right angles. The sides are seamed only from the hip up to just below the arm pit; this leaves a diamond shaped opening under the arm. The sleeves are seamed only around the area of the elbow and then hang open, but the black braid on the sleeve allows closure. The front has two silk ties [which may have been added later] roughly sewn at the waist for closure.
Main fabric: white ground cotton with a repeating pattern of lozenges formed by small flowers and leaves with a small flower at each junction. The lozenges contain a small floral spray with three flowers and there are six different version of this infilling. Colours: blue, red and dark mauve.
Lining: undecorated coarse cotton.
Facing: brown cotton around all openings and forming an inverted triangle at the back of the neck.
Sleeve facing: sewn onto the brown facing: a deep facing of plain weave, striped silk in purple, white, olive green, black, pink and mauve.
Edging: woven silk decorated with a flowering meander on a gold ground. The metal thread is silver strip wound around a yellow silk core [S-twist]. The meander is decorated with bright red and blue blossoms and green leaves and a spray of three white flowers. It has been cut on the bias. There are at least two versions of this pattern used on this garment This edging is attached from the collar bone down the central front, along the hem and up the sides to the waist and in a band above the wrist on both sides.
To the inside of this edging two narrow bias-cut ribbon strips in bright green and red all down the front edges, along the hem, back and front and up the sides to the armhole opening and on the sleeve cuffs either side of the woven edging and delineating the pointed cuff.
Colours: