Waistcoat, ca. first half of the 18th century

Linen and silk with polychrome embroidery

English

Gift of Arizona Costume Institute in honor of Jean C. Hildreth, 1995.c.15

Waistcoats of this type exist in many museum collections but there are few contemporary literary or pictorial references to them, mainly because they were used as undergarments and for informal dress at home. Although not worn in public, they were almost always decorated with quilting or embroidery. Guests received in the boudoir would have had the privilege of seeing these waistcoats while a lady was at her toilette.

In their leisure time ladies often did embroidery work at home, but the work on this piece demonstrates so advanced a level of skill that a professional maker may have been involved. The symmetry of the design from the left to the right side shows considerable proficiency in the layout of the motifs. The design of the stylized branch and flower motif was drawn on before the fabric was stretched over a wooden frame to hold it taut. The main designs were then executed in chain stitches called tambour embroidery. The seated embroideress worked the design with a hooked tambour tool in one hand placed at the back of the fabric and with the thread in the other hand on the right side of the fabric.

A single whalebone stay on each side of the center-front opening creates the flat front and elongated center front waistline of the fashionable silhouette. Eyelet holes provide a center-front laced fastening.

Click photo to go to next item