Details

Object type

dress; evening dress

Date

circa 1859-1860

Materials

silk, cotton, wool, hand-stitched, machine-stitched

Dimensions

bust: 940 mm; footprint: 1300 mm x 1300 mm; waist: 740 mm

Description

Woman’s dress or evening dress in dark pink-red silk taffeta dyed with American cochineal (Dactylopius Coccus C. – dcII, carminic acid, flavokermesic acid and kermesic acid). Wide off-the-shoulder neckline or décolletage with bertha around woven à disposition with black (faded to dark green in places) velvet pile border of daisies and pine leaves with a deep pink-red silk dyed with American cochineal (Dactylopius Coccus C. – dcII, carminic acid, flavokermesic acid and kermesic acid) and black silk chenille fringe (unidentified dye), stiffened underneath with black net. Fitted bodice extending into the deep v-shaped waistline at front and at back, fastening at centre back with lacing. Short puffed sleeves with matching woven border concealed beneath the bertha. Full-length skirt gathered into waist with two deep flounces woven à disposition with black velvet pile roses and scrolling foliage, top flounce from hip. Bodice lined with cotton with slight padding either side of bust to help support bertha, main seams machine-sewn with nine bones, five in the front along the darts. Skirt unlined with hand-stitched seams and hem.

Worn by the donor’s mother, Maria Hughes, the widow of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel James Ruthven Pond. This dress may have been made for Maria when she came out of mourning for late husband in late 1859. If so, it would have been put away again shortly afterwards in 1860 when her youngest daughter, Maria, died on 17 May 1860.

Bright colours were fashionable during the 1850s. This evening dress is made from a bright pinkish-red silk that has been created using cochineal, an expensive natural dye made from crushed shield insects imported from Central or Southern America. However, the discovery of synthetic aniline dye in 1856 led to the creation of new cheaper artificial dyes, including similar shades marketed by rival companies as magenta, fuschine or solferino, which soon replaced traditional natural dyes.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by Mrs Harriet Murray, 1934

ID Number

1934.7

Location

In storage

Related People

Maria Hughes owner, wearer