Corset, stays

Stays and stomacher of pale blue silk brocaded in white, pink and purple. Heavily boned with whalebone; lined with natural linen. Separate left and right sides laced together at back via eyelets and blue silk cor (proper left: /2a, proper right /2b). Stomacher to fill in the open front. Eyelets along the front opening edges indicate that the stays were likely laced over the top of the stomacher which has a pocket for a ridged busk up the centre front, with a pocket opening in the underside of the point. There is also a small half-circle-shaped pocket on the inside of the stomacher along the upper edge. The stays have shoulder straps cut in one with the centre back panels and appearing to have once been sewn to the fronts. The tabs at centre front and back are decoratively shaped and covered with the silk of the stay's body, unlike the rest of the tabs which are made of leather

Construction and alteration details based on notes by Carolyn Dowdell: A foundation of presumably at least two layers of cloth (i.e. linen canvas) hold the bones. The silk outer layer is sewn up separately with lapped seams and mounted onto the boned foundation; the tabs are then covered in leather. The lining is set into the whole and the eyelets are sewn into front and back opening edges. Thread remnants on the shoulder strap ends and the corresponding corners of the stay's front suggest they were once sewn together, or that another piece was sewn to them that is now gone. There are no other signs of alteration.

Catalogue note by Natalie Rothstein: Light blue satin with a floral pattern in white and coloured silks in changes. The design has a point repeat - visible on the stomacher - and has been carefully matched. The silk has been pieced to adapt to the cut of the stays and not, like so many, in a haphazard way. The satin contibutes paired thread to bind the pattern in 3\1 twill. The lining of plain white linen looks original as does the chamois lining of the tabs of the corset. Neither the silk nor the make up look positively English but it could be a fashionable accessory. Material incomplete; repeat height over 14 1/2 ins; width (point repeat) over 5 3/4 ins.

Literature: Lynn Sorge-English, 'Stays and Body Image in London: The Staymaking Trade, 1680-1810', Pickering & Chatto 2011, pp. 31-35.