Medium: Silk, silk ribbon, whalebone

Date: c. 1770

Country: possibly Europe

Credit: Museum Purchase

Stays were obligatory for the “strait-laced” woman of the eighteenth century. Although they were associated with respectability and high social status, stays also held an erotic allure. In France, the toilette—a semipublic ritual of dressing and undressing—included the subtheme of putting on a corset. Stays with sleeves are rare, and may indicate that this corset was part of an at-home ensemble.

Object Number: P82.1.16