Green flowered and striped silk gown fragment

Status

Not on view

Date1760-1780

Medium/TechniqueSilk

DimensionsOverall: 12 in. × 12 in. (30.48 cm × 30.48 cm)

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

Object numberW-2784/H

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.

A seam runs down the middle of the fragment with unfinished edges and an approximately 1/2 inch allowance. The seam was pressed left then open, but the two actions may have been done in quick succession making both present in the same period of the garment. The same technique is seen in W-2784/A. The seam is secured with running stitches in white Z-spun 2-ply S thread.

There is a creased seam evident approximately one inch from the right diagonal edge, running parallel to the edge. It shows the same thread that secures the above mentioned seam. Three rows of stitching are evident along the bottom curve at 1/2, 3/4, and 1 1/4 inches from the edge. Tabs cut into the allowances of these seams. 6 cut to the bottom line, 1 to the second, and 2 to the top. Thread present in the stitch lines match that in the seam.

Two rows of stitches can be seen at the top. Both start at 1 1/8 inches from the top edge on the left, and run to 1/2 inch and 1 inch from the top at the center cut. The top line shows a Z-spun 2-ply S thread with a more prominent ply than the thread in the seam. The bottom line shows a Z-spun 2-ply S thread that is more lustrous than the top line.

The right edge runs along a selvedge and is pressed back with a 1/4 inch allowance. Z-spun 2-ply S thread in present at the crease where the seam used to be. This thread may be the same that is seen is the second stitch line across the top edge.

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