Description:
Sleeved waistcoat woven-to-shape (tisse-en-forme or a la disposition) with floral design and five kinds of silver thread. This waistcoat was meant to be worn under an equally sumptuous coat. Weavers had long tried to copy the subtleties of shading which were easily accomplised with embroidery. By the late 1730s, silk designers and weavers, including Lyon textile designer, Jean Revel (1684-1751), employed a technique which made these subtle gradations of color possible on the loom through points rentrees, or dovetailing, different color shades for a naturalistic and more three-dimensional effect. The elegant floral motifs on this waistcoat are further enhanced with three different kinds of silver threads, each reflecting light in different ways. The use of metal thread is nearly always associated with garments intended for evening wear. The metal embroidery, or in this case, woven design, often enhanced with sequins, was intended to catch the candle light as the wearer moved. The front closure was designed to display the embroidered silver thread buttons as well as the elaboration of neckcloths and laces. The domed wooden buttons are covered with silk and silver foil and thread; there are 4 functioning button holes at the waist level; and the pocket flaps and cuffs also woven-to-shape. This waistcoat shape was woven, and then probably cut out by a tailor for their client, according to the embroidery shapes.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.191 |
