Dress
1835-1840 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
With its wide neckline, puffed sleeves ending in tight cuffs, and quite full long skirt, this dress is characteristic of those in fashion in Britain around 1840.
The textile demonstrates the influence of international design on nineteenth-century British textiles and fashion. The teardrop-like motifs were inspired by butas on textiles including shawls imported, often through the colonial East India Company, from Kashmir. These design elements came to be referred to as paisley motifs because Paisley in Scotland became famous for its production of shawls in the style of Kashmir shawls.
The intense demand for cotton textiles and dresses in places including Britain depended around this time on enslaved labour in the United States, where this fibre was cultivated and processed.
The textile demonstrates the influence of international design on nineteenth-century British textiles and fashion. The teardrop-like motifs were inspired by butas on textiles including shawls imported, often through the colonial East India Company, from Kashmir. These design elements came to be referred to as paisley motifs because Paisley in Scotland became famous for its production of shawls in the style of Kashmir shawls.
The intense demand for cotton textiles and dresses in places including Britain depended around this time on enslaved labour in the United States, where this fibre was cultivated and processed.
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Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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Materials and techniques | Roller and block-printed cotton |
Brief description | Day dress and belt, roller and block-printed cotton, made in England, about 1835-1840, speckled brown ground with floral trails and paisley motifs |
Physical description | Dress and belt of speckled brown cotton with floral and paisley motifs. The bodice has V-shaped tucks, shirring, and full-length sleeves with volume in the lower part. The sleeves end with tight cuffs. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Given by Mrs Catherine Rose |
Object history | The dress, which dates to around 1835 to 1840, is said to have been used only once by an ancestor of the donor, for a wedding. It is then said to have been kept in a cedar wood box. The garment belonged to the Tibbles family from Daglingworth in Gloucestershire, England, and was donated to the V&A in 1947. Registered Papers 47/2781 |
Association | |
Summary | With its wide neckline, puffed sleeves ending in tight cuffs, and quite full long skirt, this dress is characteristic of those in fashion in Britain around 1840. The textile demonstrates the influence of international design on nineteenth-century British textiles and fashion. The teardrop-like motifs were inspired by butas on textiles including shawls imported, often through the colonial East India Company, from Kashmir. These design elements came to be referred to as paisley motifs because Paisley in Scotland became famous for its production of shawls in the style of Kashmir shawls. The intense demand for cotton textiles and dresses in places including Britain depended around this time on enslaved labour in the United States, where this fibre was cultivated and processed. |
Bibliographic reference | Features in Lucy Johnston, Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail (Thames & Hudson / V&A)
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Collection | |
Accession number | T.75&A-1947 |
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Record created | June 24, 2009 |
Record URL |
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