Description:
Petticoat band done in polychrome crewel (two-ply) woolen yarns, ink and with a bleached (white) plain weave linen. Unlike today, where adjustments in skirt length happen at the hem, changes in the skirt length in the 18th century were achieved by taking up or letting out the material stitched into the waistband. This meant that the hem itself remained untouched, and often served as a canvas for decorative design elements including quilting or embroidery. This remnant is the hem to one such decorated petticoat, measuring 83 inches in circumference. The decoration consists of two-ply wool (crewel) yarns embroidered onto the linen ground using a multitude of stitches. The unfinished state of the decorative band, combined with additional degradation to the wool yarn, reveals that the design was first drawn out in ink, possibly by a professional or with the assistance of a kit, acting as a guide to the embroiderer.
Label Text:
Petticoat band done in polychrome crewel (two-ply) woolen yarns, ink and with a bleached (white) plain weave linen. Unlike today, where adjustments in skirt length happen at the hem, changes in the skirt length in the 18th century were achieved by taking up or letting out the material stitched into the waistband. This meant that the hem itself remained untouched, and often served as a canvas for decorative design elements including quilting or embroidery. This remnant is the hem to one such decorated petticoat, measuring 83 inches in circumference. The decoration consists of two-ply wool (crewel) yarns embroidered onto the linen ground using a multitude of stitches. The unfinished state of the decorative band, combined with additional degradation to the wool yarn, reveals that the design was first drawn out in ink, possibly by a professional or with the assistance of a kit, acting as a guide to the embroiderer.
Gift of John K. Byard, no date.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.273 |
