Purple and yellow floral gown fragment

Status

Not on view

Date1745-1755

Geography Possibly made - France

Medium/TechniqueSilk

DimensionsOverall: 2 in. × 4 1/4 in. (5.08 cm × 10.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Osborne O. Ashworth, 1988

Object numberW-3249

DescriptionThis silk fragment features an asymmetrical design with semi-naturalistic daisy sprouts (in sprigs of three), a small amount of diaper patterning, and curvilinear line segments with scallops on the top and zig-zags on the bottom placed diagonally throughout the design. Each curvilinear line ends at a daisy bloom. The design is asymmetrical, and the vertical repeat is very small (2 1/4 inches), which is characteristic of the mid-century retreat from naturalism.

The piece is woven from very richly colored threads in maroon, purple, and yellow. The ground color is achieved by a plain weave of maroon warp and purple weft, and the visible weft is switched to yellow for the daisies' petals and some of the line segment design. The rest of the details are brocaded through the use of floats: interestingly, the piece uses both weft floats and warp floats.

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