Description:
Checked or plaid woolen or mixed woolen gown dating to the mid-nineteenth century. The garment, which descended in the Chellis family of Meriden, New Hampshire, has since had minor alterations perhaps for fancy dress in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. It is in important example of mid-nineteenth century fashion from the upper Connecticut River Valley, and the practice of updating garments to extend their fashionable appearance before the advent of cheaper and more plentiful ready-made clothing in the early 20th century. Electa Hurlbert Watkins (1836-1919) of Plainfield, New Hampshire, was likely the wearer of the original dress. Watkinsmarried Andrew Jackson Chellis on March 21, 1860. The garment is a once-piece dress with a gathered bodice, bishop sleeves, and a full, sounded skirt tightly pleated into a waistband. Two different, but matching kinds of white and green ceramic buttons are used to close the gown bodice, suggesting replacements (they would have originally all matched). More modern alterations include the tacking of the bodice lining at the center front, and a black wool hem braid to the skirt.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2017.7 |
