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Corsage Ornament
Eighteenth-century European fashions included garments like the Robe à la Française and Robe à l'Anglaise, both of which opened in the front. A V-shaped panel known as a stomacher, often sumptuously decorated with silk embroidery and metal threads, was worn on the bodice to conceal the area where the robe closed. This elaborate devant de corsage, in the same shape as the stomacher, was similarly meant to cover the bodice. The jewel’s reverse has large flat loops allowing the brooch to be attached to a garment or a ribbon. Stomachers fell out of fashion in major cities by the close of the 18th century, but they continued to be popular in the provinces. The emeralds used here probably came from what is now Colombia or Ecuador and reached Europe via Spain or Portugal. The brooch may have come from Navarre, in the Spanish Basque region. It is marked thirteen times, but so far the maker remains unknown.
Stomacher
Corsage Ornament
Possibly Spanish
about 1800
Object Place: Europe, France
Medium/Technique
Gold (about 16 kt) and emerald
Dimensions
Height x width x depth: 22.5 x 8.6 x 1 cm (8 7/8 x 3 3/8 x 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mrs. Arthur Croft—The Gardner Brewer Collection
Accession Number01.6495
ClassificationsJewelry / Adornment
Eighteenth-century European fashions included garments like the Robe à la Française and Robe à l'Anglaise, both of which opened in the front. A V-shaped panel known as a stomacher, often sumptuously decorated with silk embroidery and metal threads, was worn on the bodice to conceal the area where the robe closed. This elaborate devant de corsage, in the same shape as the stomacher, was similarly meant to cover the bodice. The jewel’s reverse has large flat loops allowing the brooch to be attached to a garment or a ribbon. Stomachers fell out of fashion in major cities by the close of the 18th century, but they continued to be popular in the provinces. The emeralds used here probably came from what is now Colombia or Ecuador and reached Europe via Spain or Portugal. The brooch may have come from Navarre, in the Spanish Basque region. It is marked thirteen times, but so far the maker remains unknown.
DescriptionSmall filigree stomacher with 106 emeralds. Made from ten individual pendants linked together with loops. The bottom pendant is in the shape of a cross. Reverse has large flat loops that were likely would have been used to attach the piece to a garment.
Marks
Thirteen stamps are present
ProvenanceGardner Brewer Collection. 1901, bequest of Mrs. Arthur Croft to the MFA.