Description:
Woman's open robe made from a vibrantly-patterned Spitalfield's brocaded silk designed by Anna Maria Garthwaite (1688-1763). According to the original accession information, the gown came with a dark blue velvet bodice and ruffles added in the early 19th century. The stomacher and petticoat do not survive. There are two green stripes along each selvage of the fabric, and the selvage width is about 20.25", the expected width for an English-woven patterned silk. A 1/4" seam allowance is used in the construction of the skirt. The meandering floral pattern repeats once across the fabric width. The vertical repeat of the design is about 22.5". By the mid-1730s, the technique of points rentree, or shading, enlivened the naturalistic designs seen in woven silks. Large patterns became more favorable, in part to show off the new technique and emphasize the naturalness (and accuracy) of floral depictions on silk. The construction of the gown is slightly later, dating perhaps to the 1760s. While expensive silk designs changed yearly or even seasonally, their life was prolonged through alterations and updating of the gowns they made. The fabric's brocaded pattern is nearly identical to a design Garthwaite produced for a "Mr. Gobbee," dated May 31, 1743.
Label Text:
Exhibited in "Rococo: Celebrating 18th-Century Design and Decoration" (2018-2019): Undulating, meandering floral and foliate vines reflected the Rococo aesthetic, and helped to showcase the talents of designers and weavers working int he English silk industry. By the late 1730s, advances in designing and weaving promoted the incorporation of large, lifelike flowers into these designs. Dovetailing different hues of the same or different colors highlighted and shaded naturalistic elements, giving a three-dimensional appearance from a distance.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Linen; polychrome; Silk Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.098 |
