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Corset

Original OwnerOriginally owned by Lucy Fiddis Griffith American, 1878 - 1965
Dateabout 1892
MediumMachine-stitched silk, with silk tapes, machine-made cotton lace, steel boning and hooks, and baleen boning
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (center front length x width): 14 1/4 x 21 3/4in. (36.2 x 55.2cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineGift of Adelaide Clark
DescriptionWoman's corset of cream-colored silk. The corset laces up the center back, while the front fastens with short, steel pegs fitted in keyhole eyes. The individual pieces of boning are covered with cream-colored satin. The waistline is defined with a horizontal strip of satin stitched underneath the boning; this strip is split and splayed toward the center front edges. The top edge of the corset is decorated with a ruffle of lace with a silk ribbon run through the center and tied in a loopy bow on the proper right side of the front opening. Both the top and bottom edges are bound with the cream-colored satin. The silk tape which is laced through the metal grommets of the center back opening has metal tips.
Object number1964.76.3
MarkingsPrinted tape label stitched across inside waistline: on the proper right side, "WCC / 608 Pongee. / TRADE MARK / MEDIUM LENGTH / WARRANTEED / GENUINE / WHALEBONE". On the left side, "Royal Worcester".NotesHistorical Notes: Family history states that Lucy Fiddis Griffith (1878-1965) married Charles Johnson Clark on 30 November 1892 in Owego, New York, but other records indicate a date of 1895.
Subject Terms
    On View
    Not on view
    Wedding Dress
    Lucy Fiddis Griffith
    1892
    Mary Elizabeth Smith
    about 1903-1905
    Front of dress with evening bodice 2.

Gift of Mrs. Seth P. Holcombe and Mrs. Gilbert A. Wick…
    Mary Jane Buel
    about 1890-1895, altered from earlier dress
    Hofer family
    about 1915-1925
    Gift of Sarah E. Plummer, 1952.18.0a-b, Connecticut Historical Society, Public Domain
    Lena Lee Howard
    1882
    Wedding Dress
    Minnie Tatem Satterlee
    1893
    Front of dress without the matching cape.
    Lyle N. Roapelye
    about 1885
    Dress Bodice
    Mrs. Chauncey Bliss
    about 1892
    Wedding Dress
    James McCreary & Co.
    about 1892
    Gift of Carolyn B. Taylor, 1959.31.7a,b  © 2003 The Connecticut Historical Society.
    Unknown
    about 1891-1892