Waistcoat
Object name
Date made
1775-1810
Place made
Description
Two late 18th or early 19th-century cream silk waistcoat fronts with floral brown and yellow embroidery.
Content description
Two cream silk men's waistcoat fronts with floral brown and yellow embroidery. Both parts have a repeating pattern of small flowers, sprigs, and leaves. It has a high neck line and ten buttonholes with corresponding buttons. Some of these particularly show signs of wear, with the thread becoming loosely attached and with evidence of restitching to secure the embroidery to the button. The embroidery is concentrated around the waistcoat's front edges and hems, and the roundels have been stitched around paper card. The scalloped pockets are real, lined with linen and reaching the edge of the waistcoat.
The waistcoat is well worn and has been altered, with a press stud added at a later date. At some point it was taken in with additional darts. There is evidence along the bottom and up the side of both waistcoat pieces of brown threads, indicating that there were once stitches. This suggests that the bottom of the waistcoat was once attached to something else, however it is unclear what it was attached to. The unpicked threads along the sides likely once held together the back panel of the waistcoat.
Embroidered waistcoats of this type were fashionable throughout Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The waistcoat is well worn and has been altered, with a press stud added at a later date. At some point it was taken in with additional darts. There is evidence along the bottom and up the side of both waistcoat pieces of brown threads, indicating that there were once stitches. This suggests that the bottom of the waistcoat was once attached to something else, however it is unclear what it was attached to. The unpicked threads along the sides likely once held together the back panel of the waistcoat.
Embroidered waistcoats of this type were fashionable throughout Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Dimensions
width: 35cm
length: 61cm
width: 34.5cm
length: 59.5cm
length: 61cm
width: 34.5cm
length: 59.5cm
Materials
Stitches
Motifs
Catalogue number
COL.17.a-b
Other numbers
RSN 529
© Royal School of Needlework