Green flowered and striped silk gown fragment

Status

Not on view

Date1760-1780

Medium/TechniqueSilk

DimensionsOverall: 11 3/4 in. × 14 in. (29.85 cm × 35.56 cm)

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

Object numberW-2784/F

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 shape of the left side of this fragment is consistent with the shaping of a sleeve and may suggest construction. The left edge is pressed under and basted down with white Z-spun 2-ply S thread. The same thread is seen along the bottom connecting edge. Two lines of intact stitches are evident along that bottom edge, with evidence of the a third between the two. They measure 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 inch from the edge.

There is evidence of several stitch lines rounding both corners of the top edge and rounding out the bottom right corner. There is also evidence of a seam along the right edge with the same thread as the one along the left.

Green threads are inserted at various places throughout the fabric, seemingly unrelated to the stitch lines.

The fragment shows a minimal amount of fraying, and there is a brown stain at the center top.

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