Fashioning the New England Family, Massachusetts Historical Society

MassFashion: Fashioning the New England Family

Massachusetts Historical Society

October 2018 – March 2019

I am delighted to announce that I am serving as the Guest Curator for ‘Fashioning the New England Family’ which will be on view at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA. from October 2018-March 2019. (https://www.masshist.org) Working with the MHS Curator, Anne Bentley, we are planning a exhibition which will place numerous garments and accessories on public view for the first time in MHS history. In addition to the exhibition there will be an accompanying catalog.

As America’s first historical society, the Massachusetts Historical Society has collected family archives since 1791. Textiles form an important part of these family stories but, due to their different storage requirements, have largely been divorced from their familial ties. Fashioning the New England Family will reknit the family stories with their textiles.  Exploring textiles and clothing, we read them as primary source material enabling us to trace patterns of consumption and trade, examine clothing as political and social statement, and to compare and contrast men’s political-economic sphere to women’s. A particular collecting strength is found in the items preserved from the 17th and 18^th centuries, largely represented in the MHS collection by Boston’s elite families. Very few of these items have been publicly exhibited. While the importance of luxury goods continues in the 19^th century, we see an increase in the availability of specialized garments and accessories through all strata of society and from a wider range of sources. During this period (and continuing beyond the Colonial Revival) the importance of “ancient” textiles frequently acquire icon status and serves to connect the next generation about the importance of family history. 

Four primary themes comprise Fashioning the New England Family:

I.               Petticoats and Politics  (Presidents Gallery)

II.             The Embellished Gentleman (Hamilton Room)

III.           Clothing “The Quality” 18^th c. and 19^th c. (Oliver Room)

IV.           Homespun & Handsewn (Alcove off of Oliver Room)

For additional information on clothing and accessories found in the exhibit, see:
http://www.silkdamask.org/2016/08/an-exceptional-embroidered-silk.html

http://www.silkdamask.org/2016/09/a-pocketbook-for-benjamin-stuart-1763.html

http://www.silkdamask.org/2016/07/abigail-adams-and-her-dimity-pocket.html

I am also pleased to author the catalog which will accompany the exhibition.

Stay tuned for more details and exhibition teasers.

Treasures of 1800s Dress at the Chester County Historical Society

This spring, I had the delightful opportunity to visit the Chester County Historical Society (www.chestercohistorical.org) to attend a symposium and discuss shoes in a workshop as part of the program. (More here) If you have the opportunity to visit and take in the exhibition “Profiles: Chester County Clothing of the 1800s, ” you will be amply rewarded. An abundant selection of garments for men, women and children form the exhibition, which was extended through 3 January 2015.

As you step into the main gallery, you will be warmly greeted by well-lit and well-designed mannequins and imaginative vignettes. While there is much to absorb and the installation is quite full, it never feels overwhelming. For those interested in historic garments of the 19^th century, it is a treasure trove, pure and simple.

As the exhibition materials relate:

…the exhibition will include more than 40 fine and ordinary examples of outerwear worn by women, men and children that will show the evolution of clothing profiles in the 1800s.  It includes Empire style gowns of the early 1800s, children’s Turkey red print dresses dating from about the 1840s, elaborate men’s vests from numerous decades, and highly detailed fashionable dresses of the Victorian era.  Important to Chester County, and an installation highlight, is the contrast between Quaker plain dress and fashionable wear that clearly distinguished a person’s identity within the community.  Other important aspects of local dress include fabric choices that embody the advancement of chemical dyes and styles of clothing that played a significant role in women’s health.  These and other topics will shed light on the local and national trends. 

There is also a virtual exhibition: http://chestercohistorical.org/profiles-chester-county-clothing-1800s

Dazzling! #Gold #silk #brocade dress, 1855-65

Silk #Victorian dress - harmonious balanced design #ruching

"My Party Dress:" Mrs. Eddy Visits the House of Pingat, 1878

This sumptuous Victorian silk brocade and silk satin dinner dress by the House of Pingat was purchased in Paris by Mrs. Augustus Newland Eddy (Abbie Louise Spencer, 1850-1909) while traveling with her father in 1878. According to the donor’s family, Mrs. Eddy wore this dress for a portrait painted by G.P.A. Healy. One can only imagine how she felt being painted wearing such a grand dress! (From the Chicago History Museum Collections, more here)

In addition to the survival of her dress, we can also glean something of her knowledge of French haute couture based on entries in her travel log or daybook. Indeed, she referred to this as her “party dress.” Her account also indicates a substantial amount of time was spent shopping not only for herself but others, including Chicagoan Mrs. Marshall Field.

September 13: Arrived in Paris at noon…. Ordered Dell’s [Mrs. Arthur Caton] black dress and Arthur’s suit. 

September 14: To Pingat. Ordered Mrs. F’s dress [Mrs. Marshall Field], Dell’s cloak and mine. To Grange & Majantus. Ordered my bronze dress.  

          September 16: Ordered Dell’s blue dress.

September 17: Ordered my party dress. Bought corsets, shoes…

A photo of Mrs. Eddy with her husband and son, wearing her Pingat dress survives, in addition to the Healy painting.

As noted by the Chicago Historical Museum: Abbie was "the wife of Augustus Newland Eddy, a manufacturer and merchant who later became a member of the Chicago Stock Exchange, she enjoyed traveling abroad and after 1900 made annual trips to Europe. Mrs. Eddy favored French fashions and became highly knowledgeable about the dressmakers and shops in Paris. In addition to her donations of European couture, the Chicago History Museum has many of Mrs. Eddy’s journals and scrapbooks which speak of her visits to Europe’s leading houses of couture. Eventually, many of her friends turned to her for advice on where to shop while in Europe, and Mrs. Eddy would often suggest the houses of Worth, Pingat, Virot, and Doucet."

In Situ: An 1881 Wedding Dress, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

What is so compelling about the wedding dress of Mary Ann Morison (1844-1935) is the fact that it provides one of those rare opportunities when the display of a garment sits within its original footprint. The wedding dress is currently at the top of the stair hall of the John Paul Jones House (as it is now known.) 

The 37 year-old Mary Morison wore this fashionable parchment colored silk wedding gown when she married James Rundlet May on April 26, 1881. Can’t you imagine her descending the stair, holding her fan, with the rustle of her gown and train heard above the quiet of the family and handful of guests?

Mary was the granddaughter of Samuel Lord and had lived in this house most of her life. Reverend James DeNormandie, pastor of the South Church, presided over the ceremony. She moved only three blocks away to the Rundlett-May house with her husband following her marriage.  Mary died in 1935.

While the Lord and Rundlet May families were prosperous members of the Portsmouth community, there is no label in the garment. The assumption has been that a local seamstress created the gown of imported fabric.  In any case, the gown was certainly representative of the style of the time with its rich silk, lace trim, well-tailored, form-fitting jacket and voluminous trained skirt. The May family donated the gown many years ago, but with no further information. Incidentally, on the table next to the gown is the wedding fan.

The gown is from the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society, John Paul Jones House Museum, in Portsmouth, NH.

Thank you to Sandra Rux, Curator, Portsmouth Historical Society & Jeffrey Hopper, Manager of the Warner House, for their assistance with this post.

Vintage Inspirations in Irish Lace, Sheelin Lace Shop

Winter whites. Wedding whites. Frothy, lacy loveliness. Vintage inspirations. 
I recently made a virtual visit to Rosemary Cathcart's Sheelin Lace Shop and Museum. This was a delightful distraction from the gray landscape outside my studio window.

The Sheelin Lace Shop and Museum is filled with all those wonderful items you wish your grannies and great grannies had kept safely in attic trunks. The proprietor has Irish lace items and other vintage textiles and clothing. Antique wedding dresses, wedding veils, shawls, collars, bonnets, christening gowns, 1920s dresses, feather fans and headpieces are available for purchase. 

d Carrickmacross - with all the lace dating from 1850 to 1920s.

If you are planning a special event, this looks like a rewarding visit, whether in person or on the web.

All images, Rosemary Cathcart

For more information, contact Rosemary Cathcart
rosemarycathcart1@gmail.com 
+44(0)2866 348052 
www.antiqueirishlace.co.uk