Description:
Man's four-piece, embroidered silk court suit with a jacket and a pair of breeches, and two waistcoats (HD F.675A and F.675b). Charles Germaine de Saint-Aubin (1721-1786), who was a draftsman and embroidery designer to King Louis XV (1710-1774), published a treatise called "L'art du Brodeur" ("Art of Embroidery") in 1770, which provided designs for embroiderers, textile weavers and lacemakers across Europe, with the finest embroideries done in France, Venice and Vienna. The silk city of Lyon, France, had more than 7000 professional embroiderers in 1770. The work was carried out in ateliers under the supervision of 'master embroideres' who were nearly all men. The patterned silk for this court suit was certainly woven in Lyon, and where the silk threads used for the embroidery were also produced. A luxurious and expensive garment such as this would have taken from three to four months to produce, with as many as six embroiderers working at the same time. Work was limited to daylight hours and only the most expensive was 'bespoke' or custom-made as was this example. Most suits, and quite literally, thousands of waistcoats were pre-made and were cut to the proper size by a tailor after they were purchased. The jacket is embroidered with floral designs (possibly orchids and combinations of other flowers) in silk floss, silk chenille leaves, buds and blossoms, and textured threads on patterned silk velvet. One some suits there was a kind of 'language of flowers' in which a particular word of phrase could be spelled out using the first letter of the flowers' name. Saint-Aubin explained that the best way to transfer designs to silk velvet was to carefully prick the paper pattern, and fill a small cloth "pouncing bag" with the charcoal ashes from the dried remains of the grape and stems after the juice has been pressed out to make wine. According to Aubin, the dots deposited on the surface of the cloth have an iridescent quality which is clearly seen, but also easily brushed off after the design has been outlined with thread. The dark aubergine-colored silk velvet of the jacket and breeches has a small design of ivory dots and lighter aubergine crescents producing a criss-cross pattern. Coat - CB 43 in. Breeches - Side Seam 27 in.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.675 |
