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Dress

Date1800-1802
MediumHand-stitched watered sarsnet (a lightweight silk, plain-woven), with silver braid and silver thread buttons, the threads wrapped over a wooden core
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (length x width): 47 1/2 x 14in. (120.7 x 35.6cm)
Hem (circumference): 90in. (228.6cm)
ClassificationsCostume
Credit LineMuseum purchase
DescriptionWoman's tunic-style day dress of pink watered silk, trimmed down the center front opening with narrow silver braid and 17 (original number) high-domed buttons of silver threads wrapped over wooden cores. This opening is false at the hem, and extends 23 inches; it is open and the buttons are functional above this point. The dress is lined with light-weight, plain-woven, pale pink silk (called "persian" in the period). The bodice of the tunic has a V-shaped back, the arms of the V extending into shoulder straps, which were originally stitched to the outer corners of the bodice front. The fit of the front is created by two 4 1/2-inch darts. The waist is high; the CF length of the bodice is 7 5/8 inches. The skirt is knife-pleated into the waist in the front and around the sides; it is cartridge-pleated at center back. Originally, the hem was decorated with a band of net-type lace, as there is a very small remnant of it left at the center back of the skirt; there is also evidence of a sewing line 3 1/2 inches above the hem.

The dress came from a house in Greenwich, Connecticut. It belonged to a family related to the American Impressionist painter Julian Alden Weir.
Object number1986.22.1
Subject Terms
    On View
    Not on view
    Front of dress with one petticoat
    Unknown
    about 1905-1915
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    Rebecca Taylor Bacon
    1851-1852
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    Yale family
    about 1860
    Wedding Dress
    Libbie B. Tuller
    1892
    Gift of Mariette Newman Fitch, 1952.73.0  © 2013 The Connecticut Historical Society.
    Nancy Diantha Terry
    about 1860
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    Clara Eglantine Comstock
    about 1888
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    about 1750-1760 and later
    Bequest of Martha R. Lambert, 1979.68.864  © 2008 The Connecticut Historical Society.
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    about 1800
    Dress
    Unknown
    1863-1865, with later alteration
    Baptismal Dress
    Annie Louise Smith
    1849
    Dress and Petticoat
    Lovinia White
    about 1833