waistcoat
Summary
Cream silk satin waistcoat, embroidered with coloured silks. Waistcoat; front cream satin, embroidered ,front and bottom edges faced cream twilled silk; back and lining white cotton fronts fastening with fourteen embroidered buttons and buttonholes to four inches below round neck with standing collar; straight waistline; slit pocket,white linen and cotton, each side at waist; back in two sections, lower edge rising at centre, two pairs tape ties at waist; fronts embroidered all over with sprays of rosebuds and other flowers, in coloured silks worked in satin and stem stitch, alternating with applique circles of blue satin with black silk centres and sewn on with radiating red silk stitches; front,bottom,collar and pocket edges outlined in red and pink silk.
Display Label
Men's waistcoats in the eighteenth century provided a rich canvas for imaginative and exotic embroidery, sometimes matching the decoration on coats, and sometimes contrasting. Much of this embroidery was produced by professional workshops, often in France, where the fronts, pockets and collar were worked as separate pieces which could be purchased and then assembled to fit later by a tailor or seamstress. The fronts of this waistcoat have been dramatically decorated with scattered rosebuds in coloured silks alternating with bold applique circles of blue and black satin, sewn with radiating red silk stitches. This waistcoat was worn by Thomas Carill Worsley (1739 - 1808) who lived at Platt Hall in Manchester, where the Gallery of Costume is currently housed. It is part of a collection of Worsley's clothing which was given to the museum by the family in the 1950s and including suits and coats, a banyan, a wig, a pair of shoes, a number of similar waistcoats, and the large ornate trunk in which they were kept. Some of these items are on display in the eighteenth century gallery.
Object Name
waistcoat
Date Created
1780-1800
Dimensions
Length: 70cm
accession number
1954.973
Place of creation
England
Medium
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