Woman’s Suit

United States

About 1890

  • Titles Woman's Suit (Descriptive)
  • Medium corduroy, wool, silk
  • Dimensions 40 in. (101.6 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Arthur I. Chenoweth, 1984.77a-b
  • Work Type suit
  • Classification Costume

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Large bedcovering, or quilt top, of English cotton chintzes and stripes, and copperplate printed fabrics, with dozens of individual leaves, flowers and birds fastened with buttonhole stitches to a white ground in an applique method known as "broderie perse," the main design forms the Tree of Life pattern with an oversized parrot perched on a limb at the top of the tree, the trunk springs from a bowl containing two ovals of copperplate-printed fabric with the inscription on one reading, "Whittingdon at Holloway hearing bowbells ring," and "Turn down Whittingdon, Lord Mayor of Great London," and on the other, "Whittingdon presents his cat a V--," and "Whittingdon brought Poor Puss and delivered her to the captain with tears in his eyes," embroidered grape clusters are paired with long-beaked birds with appliqued heads and wings, four additional birds fly in the background, each corner of the central medallion is decorated with a different composition of flowers and leaves, the border appliqued of flowers and leaves between one single striped and one double striped border, the outermost border in reverse applique with scrolls, leaves and flowers, and finished with a final frame of four stripes.
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