Waistcoat
1615-1620 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Embroidered waistcoats were worn by middle-class women and by aristocratic women for informal dress in the late 16th and early 17th century. Blackwork or multi-coloured embroidery were popular forms of decoration. The pattern of scrolling stems bearing leaves and flowers was popular in late Elizabethan and Jacobean embroidery.
Like other examples of blackwork in black silk, the embroidery threads are disintegrating. This is because iron was used as a mordant or fixative for the black dye. It eventually oxidises causing the silk thread to crumble. The holes where the embroidery silk once went remain, allowing the design of the embroidery to be seen even where the thread is now lost.
Like other examples of blackwork in black silk, the embroidery threads are disintegrating. This is because iron was used as a mordant or fixative for the black dye. It eventually oxidises causing the silk thread to crumble. The holes where the embroidery silk once went remain, allowing the design of the embroidery to be seen even where the thread is now lost.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Linen, silk; hand-woven, hand-sewn, hand embroidered |
| Brief description | Woman's waistcoat of linen blackwork, 1615-1620, English |
| Physical description | Woman’s waistcoat of fine bleached linen embroidered with black silk floss. It has a high round neck with a round collar at the back and long, curving, 2-piece sleeves. The skirts below the waist are shaped with 5 triangular gores inserted at the hem. The outlines of the blackwork are worked in back and plaited-braid stitches, in a pattern of scrolling stems bearing flowers and leaves which are filled with simple counted thread running stitches and lines of backstitch. A cotton lining has been added later for display. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Embroidered waistcoats were worn by middle-class women and by aristocratic women for informal dress in the late 16th and early 17th century. Blackwork or multi-coloured embroidery were popular forms of decoration. The pattern of scrolling stems bearing leaves and flowers was popular in late Elizabethan and Jacobean embroidery. Like other examples of blackwork in black silk, the embroidery threads are disintegrating. This is because iron was used as a mordant or fixative for the black dye. It eventually oxidises causing the silk thread to crumble. The holes where the embroidery silk once went remain, allowing the design of the embroidery to be seen even where the thread is now lost. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.541-1923 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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