Flower Basket
Fancy Dress Costume Design
1860s (made)
1860s (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This design was created by Jules Helleu or Léon Sault, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. Many of these fancy dress costumes were built upon a basic bodice and skirt, which speeded up production when making multiple costumes. This design takes a simple white evening dress with a full crinoline skirt and adds to it an overskirt made to resemble a handled basket, turned upside down, and trims the skirt with flowers which spill down the skirt to represent an up-ended flower basket. Although simple by nineteenth century standards, it is an effective design that would have been quick enough for an extremely busy couture atelier to make up.
During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.
During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Flower Basket (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | watercolour and pencil drawing |
Brief description | Woman's masquerade ball dress. "Flower Basket". Watercolour drawing by Jules Helleu or Léon Sault, probably for Charles Frederick Worth. Paris, 1860s. |
Physical description | Watercolour drawing, a design for a theatrical or masquerade fancy-dress ball costume made to resemble a basket of flowers turned upside down. |
Credit line | Given by the House of Worth |
Summary | This design was created by Jules Helleu or Léon Sault, possibly for Charles Frederick Worth. Many of these fancy dress costumes were built upon a basic bodice and skirt, which speeded up production when making multiple costumes. This design takes a simple white evening dress with a full crinoline skirt and adds to it an overskirt made to resemble a handled basket, turned upside down, and trims the skirt with flowers which spill down the skirt to represent an up-ended flower basket. Although simple by nineteenth century standards, it is an effective design that would have been quick enough for an extremely busy couture atelier to make up. During the 1860s, Empress Eugenie of France threw a number of extravagant masquerade balls which required the guests to wear elaborate and inventive costumes that were made up by Worth and other Paris dressmakers. Worth, a relative newcomer, became the Empress's favoured couturier at the end of the 1850s. This made him extremely fashionable, and the rest of the ladies of Eugenie's court also bought gowns from him - and so too did their husbands' mistresses, and anyone wealthy enough to afford Worth's very high prices. As a result, Worth was under great pressure to produce vast numbers of unique, one of a kind costumes and gowns, often at very short notice. This is one of a large number of similar designs and sketches that were given to the V&A as part of the archive and reference collection of the House of Worth, making it extremely likely that it was originally designed for a guest to wear to one of the Empress's magnificent balls. |
Bibliographic reference | Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1957-1958 London: HMSO, 1964 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.22043-1957 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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