Description:
Lavender (faded over time to a light gray color) silk crepe dress, which has a history of ownership in the Warner-Cook families of Hadley. The dress came with a typed letter dated Sept. 27, 1933 from the donor, Miss Leila L. Topping: "I have in my possession the bridal gown of my maternal Great-Grandmother, Lucy Warner Cook of Hadley Mass. Daughter of Noadiah Warner, she married Robert Warner..." According Judd's "History of Hadley," M. Lucy (b.1784), the daughter of Noadiah Warner (1749-c.1825) of Hadley and Martha Hunt Warner (1750-1787) married Robert Cook (1781-1813), the son of Elisha Cook, about 1809, and had a son, Albert Hunt Cook in 1810; she later married Abel Warner. However, this dress was made circa 1820, and may have been worn during a woman’s second mourning (the period after the first or deepest mourning period). Wearing crepe fabric in colors such as lavender and gray often signaled this period of grief, lasting about six months. The hem of this garment is elaborated with several rouleaux, or channels of cotton cording, both to weight the hem and increase its volume. Acquired from Historic Northampton (accession # 66.13). See also HD 2006.16 for a Family Register made by Ebenezer W. Kellogg, Lucy Warner's nephew and son of her sister, Martha Hunt Warner Kellogg (1787-1870).
Label Text:
This dress has a history of ownership in the Warner-Cook families of Hadley. The fabric has faded over time to a light gray color. Originally believed to be a wedding dress, it may in fact have been worn during a woman’s second mourning (the period after the first or deepest mourning period). Wearing crepe fabric in colors such as lavender and gray often signaled this period of grief, lasting about six months. The hem of this garment is elaborated with several rouleaux, or channels of cotton cording, both to weight the hem and increase its volume.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2008.4.3 |
