Green flowered and striped silk gown fragment

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Not on view

Date1760-1780

Medium/TechniqueSilk

DimensionsOverall: 13 in. × 9 in. (33.02 cm × 22.86 cm)

Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund and partial gift of an anonymous donor, 2004

Object numberW-2784/C

DescriptionThis fabric is plain woven celery green with both stripes and flower motifs. The stripes alternate in width and design. The thin stripes are a ribbed cream; the medium stripes are a ribbed cream flanked by an unribbed cream, then a ribbed purple, and a ribbed brown; the large stripe set is a ribbed purple flanked by unribbed brown, a strip of ground fabric, unribbed cream, ribbed purple, then ribbed brown. The ribbed stripes are done with supplementary warp floats, similar in technique to 1/7 corduroy. In general, the stripes are ordered large, medium, large, small, large.

Between the stripes are colorful bundles of flowers done in discontinuous weft brocade. The bundles are share the same form, but alternate in direction and color: switching between sloping up to the right, then up to the left. Those that slope up the right have a large white rose done in boucle yarn, dark green leaves, and light pink and bright pink flowers. The other groups have the same white rose and dark green leaves, but the remaining flowers are purple and grey-pink.

The fabric also has a subtle, white floral vine motif. This is done with by floating the wefts, which are white through the fabric. Since the floated wefts are structural, the floats appear on the back in the warp.

The both the green warps and the white wefts of the ground weave are unspun filament, or lightly S-spun that has loosened further within the weave. The light pink of the brocade is S-spun. The white boucle yarn of the large flowers in the brocade is 2-ply S with one element spun tighter than the other, causing the yarn to loop around itself and ply unevenly.

The fragment is in the shape of a stomacher, which most likely indicates its use in the garment. All sides of the fragment are pressed under, which is consistent with the type of seams that would have connected the face fabric of a stomacher with its lining. The left side, bottom, and part of the lower right are basted in long running stitches with Z-spun 2-ply S green thread. The rest is basted with Z-spun 2-ply S white thread.

There are thin white thread inserted throughout the center of the fragment. The same thread can be seen in the same situation in W-2784/G. There is also one thick Z-spun 2-ply S white thread in the center of the fragment.

There is a selvedge seam toward the right side of the fragment, showing a selvedge with four green stripes. It is hidden on the front by matching up the stripes, and secured by small running stitches in Z-spun 2-ply S thread.

There is evidence of creases symmetrically along both sides. The shape is consistent with that of stomachers, so may indicate the original size of the stomacher or a removed attempt at taking it in.

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