Not on display

Dress

ca. 1830 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Dress for nursing of white cotton trimmed at the neck with a bobbin lace border through which is threaded a white silk ribbon which fastens at the back. Medium high waist-line, leg of mutton sleeves with a narrow facing at the cuff, and a skirt arranged at the waist in tight even gathers, and with a broad facing band on the reverse of the hem. The bodice is loosely cut and gathered at the shoulders into two narrow applied bands edged with piping. It is similarly trimmed at the medium low neck. The bodice is not attached to the waist band in front so that it could be lifted for nursing. It would have been held in place with the gathering tape through the bottom of the front of the bodice and there are pin marks in the band of the skirt. The dress fastens at the back with buttons with a metal wire foundation over which is stretched cotton. There is a tape fastening at the back waist, which runs through a worked eyelet, and possible to tie in the front. A part lining is stitched inside the bodice and it is an integral part in that the button holes are worked though it. It includes lining with a draw tape for adjustment for the short puffed sleeves, and lines the back, top and sides of the front but is cut away at the centre front.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Cotton trimmed with bobbin lace, threaded with silk ribbon, metal with stretched cotton and lined
Brief description
Dress for nursing of white cotton trimmed with bobbin lace, possibly made in England or Scotland, ca. 1830
Physical description
Dress for nursing of white cotton trimmed at the neck with a bobbin lace border through which is threaded a white silk ribbon which fastens at the back. Medium high waist-line, leg of mutton sleeves with a narrow facing at the cuff, and a skirt arranged at the waist in tight even gathers, and with a broad facing band on the reverse of the hem. The bodice is loosely cut and gathered at the shoulders into two narrow applied bands edged with piping. It is similarly trimmed at the medium low neck. The bodice is not attached to the waist band in front so that it could be lifted for nursing. It would have been held in place with the gathering tape through the bottom of the front of the bodice and there are pin marks in the band of the skirt. The dress fastens at the back with buttons with a metal wire foundation over which is stretched cotton. There is a tape fastening at the back waist, which runs through a worked eyelet, and possible to tie in the front. A part lining is stitched inside the bodice and it is an integral part in that the button holes are worked though it. It includes lining with a draw tape for adjustment for the short puffed sleeves, and lines the back, top and sides of the front but is cut away at the centre front.
Object history
Purchased. Registered File number 1985/395.

The family name of the donor's mother and from the house of the great aunt was Gibsone and they were said to be descendants of Lord Gibsone of Drurie House, Leven, a prominent jurist of the time of James VI of Scotland.
Historical context
Naomi E.A. Tarrant's The Rise and Fall of the Sleeve, Royal Scottish Museum Collections, 1983, No. 21, p. 266 & Museum number 1977.539 - similar in having a front flap which can be raised.
Bibliographic references
  • Lady, A. The Workman's Guide, 1838-1840, Facsimile edition 1975, p. 113
  • Lady, A. The Workman's Guide, 1838-1840, Facsimile edition 1975, p. 113-114
Collection
Accession number
T.430-1985

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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