Dress

Catalogue note by Santina Levey. Dress of fine white Indian muslin embroidered to shape, probably in India. Decorated with pulled fabric fillings (worked before the rest of the embroidery) and narrow metal strip which is used like an embroidery thread to work overcast and narrow satin stitches. Cut with wide oval neck, unshaped except by gathers at neck and centre front and in back where joined to plain cotton waistband; moderately full instep length skirt is tightly gathered at the back where it is whipped onto the waistband, flat across the stomach and contained by four soft pleats at each side front; front section loosely caught to waistband; short puffed sleeves. Turned and faced hem decorated with double line of small scallops with a narrow curving leafy stem above and above these large gently curved sprays of leaves and rather spindly flowering plants worked across two seams and stopping just short of third. Remaining ground is decorated with widely spaced leaf motifs; neck edge is trimmed with added border decorated with scallops and leafy-stem motifs, matching hem and further trimmed with silver gilt fringed braid.
Condition: Fairly good. The fine muslin is soiled and the metal thread is tarnished.