Shirt
Shirt
ca. 1852 (made)
ca. 1852 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The Museum's collections contain very few garments from the Americas but this fine cotton shirt, so loosely woven that it is transparent, was acquired as early as 1854. It would have been worn over a pair of straight white cotton trousers, undecorated except for a fringe around the lower hem of each leg.
The double thickness of cotton used for the collar and the shoulders of the shirt is embroidered with white cotton. The area to either side of the neck slit is decorated with pulled thread work in a pattern of leaves and blossoms. However, this is almost totally concealed by a flounce of embroidered net which falls from the the single button fastening the collar. This surprisingly soft , feminine touch to a male garment is reminiscent of the lace cravats worn by fashionable men in western Europe in the first half of the 18th century.
The double thickness of cotton used for the collar and the shoulders of the shirt is embroidered with white cotton. The area to either side of the neck slit is decorated with pulled thread work in a pattern of leaves and blossoms. However, this is almost totally concealed by a flounce of embroidered net which falls from the the single button fastening the collar. This surprisingly soft , feminine touch to a male garment is reminiscent of the lace cravats worn by fashionable men in western Europe in the first half of the 18th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Shirt |
| Materials and techniques | Embroidered cotton with cotton, trimmed with embroidered net |
| Brief description | Man's shirt of cotton embroidered with cotton, Paraguay, ca. 1852 |
| Physical description | Man's shirt of cotton embroidered with cotton and trimmed with embroidered net. The double thickness of cotton used for the collar and the shoulders is embroidered with white cotton. The area to either side of the neck slit is decorated with pulled thread work in a pattern of leaves and blossoms, but this is almost totally concealed by a flounce of embroidered net which falls from the single button fastening the collar. |
| Dimensions |
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| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | The Museum's collections contain very few garments from the Americas but this fine cotton shirt, so loosely woven that it is transparent, was acquired as early as 1854. It would have been worn over a pair of straight white cotton trousers, undecorated except for a fringe around the lower hem of each leg. The double thickness of cotton used for the collar and the shoulders of the shirt is embroidered with white cotton. The area to either side of the neck slit is decorated with pulled thread work in a pattern of leaves and blossoms. However, this is almost totally concealed by a flounce of embroidered net which falls from the the single button fastening the collar. This surprisingly soft , feminine touch to a male garment is reminiscent of the lace cravats worn by fashionable men in western Europe in the first half of the 18th century. |
| Bibliographic reference | Crill, Rosemary, Jennifer Wearden and Verity Wilson. Dress in Detail from Around the World. London: V&A Publications, 2002. 224 p., ill. ISBN 09781851773787. p. 26 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 887-1854 |
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| Record created | December 30, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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