1720 Embroidered stomacher
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1700-1730 An embroidered stomacher
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The back of the stomacher
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The skirts on the left lower edge
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The back of the skirts on the right lower edge
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X-ray image of the stomacher
Description
The ground is cream watered silk with a design of stylised flowers in polychrome twisted silk thread. The pink silk ribbon binding, round the edges of the top half of the stomacher and the skirts, is now faded.
It is part boned and the lining of the foundation is stiffened with glue in addition to the minimal boning.
The stomacher would have been worn over a pair of stays and secured to the open front edges of a gown or open robe with pins through the three tabs down each side,.
Although the embroidery seems to have been designed to fit the stomacher, it is slightly larger and some motifs wrap round the edge of the boned foundation. The floral and leafy motifs radiate out from a central stem and are worked in overlapping satin stitch, in shades of green and crimson.
A pattern of the stomacher can be found in Patterns of Fashion 6 published by The School of Historical Dress and available from their website.
Contemporary illustration
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Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska by Francesco Trevisani, 1719. The Polish princess was the wife of James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called 'the Old Pretender'. National Galleries Scotland
