Red stripe gown fragment

Fragment of Striped Dress Fabric,
1770-1799,
Silk lampas

Status

Not on view

Datec. 1785

Medium/TechniqueSilk

DimensionsOverall: 22 in. × 13 in. (55.88 cm × 33.02 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Lyttleton B. P. Gould, Jr., M. Chapin Krech, Dr. Shepard Krech, Alvin W. Krech, Peter Chapin, Charles Chapin, and Mrs. Charles Merrill Chapin III, in memory of Esther Maria Lewis Chapin, 1986

Object numberW-3050

DescriptionThe design of this textile is done through a complicated lampas technique. The face of the fragment alternated between corduroy (the red stripes), and a white stripe bearing a floral motif--perhaps imitating ribbon. The white stripes are edged in 1/16 inch of sky blue with a vine motif of light and dark green and blue-petaled flowers with a purple center and a yellow highlight. The white stripe is 9/16 inch wide (11/16 including the blue edging), and red stripe is 11/16 inch wide. The floral motif shows a straight repeat of 1 1/4 inches. The corduroy sits over a plain weave structure and is created using supplementary warp floats. Only one weft ties down the supplementary warps, creating the thin stripe of the 7/1 corduroy. Combined with the lampas technique, this tells us that the weaver used 3 sets of warps (the maximum), and seven sets of wefts.

A seam runs down the center of this fragment along two selvedges, both showing three red stripes in the same shade as the corduroy. The seam is secured with a running stitch with red z-spun 2-ply S thread.

The bottom of the fragment is held in a tape hem. The linen tape shows an unbalanced plain weave with a thick, S-plied warp and two thin wefts. 1/2 inch of the facing fabric is pressed under for the hem, and the tap is secured with running stitches in the same thread as the seam.

The fragment shows very little fraying. There is a large brown stain at the top of the seam that has yellowed on the reverse of the fabric. Dark staining at the bottom also has a yellow halo, suggesting a previous attempt at removing the stain. The fragment is creased across the center.

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