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Dress and petticoat
American (Boston), English textile
about 1735, restyled 1763
Object Place: MA, United States
Medium/Technique
Silk plain weave with discontinuous supplementary patterning weft; silk twill tape; linen bobbin lace
Dimensions
136.52 cm (53 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Helen L. Campbell
Accession Number1990.513a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsCostumes
DescriptionRemodeled 1763. Silk: England (Spitalfields), design about 1735. Dark green silk with polychrome brocaded design of flowers, leaves, branches and fruit. Mid-18th-century linen bobbin lace stitched inside sleeve flounces and around neck. Open robe à l'anglaise and matching petticoat with deep flounce. Believed to have been worn by Mary Waters of Salem at her marriage to Anthony Sigourney of Boston in 1740. Also worn by their daughter, also named Mary Waters, for her marriage to James Butler in 1763. (Worn with 1990.514a, b). Condition: Petticoat good but fragile. Over dress (robe): good condition; left shoulder seam unstitched, back neck edge extremely worn.
Provenance1740, worn in Boston by Mary Waters (1711-1746) of Salem, Massachusetts for her marriage to Anthony Sigourney (1711-1761) of Boston; 1763, worn in Boston by their daughter, also named Mary Waters Sigourney (1741-1823), for her marriage to James Butler (1740-1827); by 1892, by inheritance to Miss Helen. L. Campbell; June 6, 1892, lent by Miss Campbell to the MFA; 1990, accessioned by MFA (October 24, 1990).