Description:
Pair of triple layer detachable sleeves (engageantes) made of fine cotton embroidered with a meandering foliate pattern of grapes, vines, and leaves in darning, stem, and rosette stitches.
Label Text:
Engageantes were detachable sleeves that formed an essential part of women’s stylish dress in the 18th century. The term derives from the French word engageant, meaning 'engaging' or 'attaching' which had both a literal meaning since they were tacked onto the bodice sleeve, but also a figurative one as they engaged the eye in a charming flounce of fabric. As trimming became increasingly the focus of fashionable dress in the mid-18th century, engageantes became more elaborate. Contemporary portraits of English and European women sporting engageantes indicate their importance in completing the fashionable look. The taste for engageantes extended to Colonial America, as well. Artists such as John Singleton Copley and Joseph Blackburn frequently painted their sitters wearing engageantes.
Early examples were generally made of linen needle or bobbin lace in a single layer. This pair dates to the mid-18th century when scalloped triple layer engageantes were the height of fashion.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Cotton; Embroidery Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2025.1 |
