dress

Dress in cotton, block printed with 5 wood blocks, black, red and drab on ivory with a filigree tracery of seaweed and flowers. Black, red and drab were fashionable in c. 1807-8, as was the seaweed design. The fact that it is printed in so many colours means it was expensive. Small dots can be seen on the fabric from the guide marks on the blocks. The blue lines in the selvedge of the fabric indicate it is English cotton. The bodice has a high stomacher front, a low square neck at back and the front flap of bodice is pinned up forming low square neck. Square necks were becoming fashionable in 1805. The medium high waist is gathered with a plaited cord drawstring in front and gathered onto the bodice at centre back. The sleeves are long and narrowing towards the wrists which is typical of 1808. The bodice is lined with cream linen flaps to made an underbodice which was pinned together. This dress has no train and, although gathered at centre back, has a marked cylindrical shape. About 1807-8. The print design on the fabric is highly likely to have been designed by William Kilburn (1745–1818), the Victoria and Albert Museum have a book of Kilburn's designs (accession number E.894:49/1-1978) and one dress in their collection (accession number T.84-1991).