Object: Man's coat and waistcoat
Date: c. 1745
Medium: Wool, silver-gilt thread, purl, sequins, silk taffeta, linen, and cotton fustian
Country: Scotland
Credit Line: Museum purchase
Object number: 2013.3.3
DescriptionMan's formal set; red scarlet wool collarless coat with full skirts and matching collarless long sleeve waistcoat with silver gilt thread, purl and sequin embroidery in a stylized scrolling floral spray design at neckline, CF, pocket flaps and at coat's deep sleeve cuffs and side back semi open pleated vents; buttons covered with silver gilt strip wire in a basket weave cross pattern - on coat ten at CF, four below slightly scalloped pocket flap, two at sleeve cuffs and two at side back vent one at top and one at hem, and on waistcoat 12 at CF, and four below pocket flap; (Property of Scottish nobleman)
Label Text:“This Scottish woollen suit is likely a court suit…in part due to the expensive luxury of its embroidery. Stylized botanical motifs and palmettes have a sense of the exotic… amplified by the glamour of the silver-gilt wrapped thread, purl with added spangles. The buttons, too, are gilded …The customer was clearly a big spender: he directed the tailor to use cloth rather than the customary linen at the back of the waistcoat, even though it would never be seen.”
– Peter McNeil, from the catalog Power Mode: The Force of Fashion
– Peter McNeil, from the catalog Power Mode: The Force of Fashion
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions:
- Power Mode