1819 Muslin skirt
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1818-1825 A white cotton muslin skirt
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The back of the skirt
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Detail of the embroidery round the hem
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Detail showing the end of one of the long darts at the side of the front skirt panel.
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Inside the back waist showing where the shoulder straps join the waistband, the hook and eye, and the gathers in the skirt
Description
The top of the skirt is enclosed in a cotton waistband, about ¾" wide, with tight gathers for about 2" each side of the centre back opening, where there is a hook and eye. The opening is 12¼" long with a hem of ¹⁄₁₆" on the edges. The back skirt is seamed to what looks like a side panel, ⅛" wide at the top, but is actually part of the front, which has a long dart down to 6½" above the hem, at the top of the embroidery.
Shoulder straps of ½" wide cotton tape are 17" long; one end is sewn at the centre back and the other end is 4½" away along the waistband at the top of the side dart.
The decoration round the lower part of the skirt is worked in olive green silk with details in ivory. 14 large floral sprays curl round rosettes, about 2" wide, made of two layers of strips of muslin folded lengthwise and gathered into puffs round the centre, where there is a hole. The hem has wide scallops which each have scalloped edges, with an embroidered floral trail running along above them.
The skirt is 39" long at the centre front and the high waist measures 26½". There are signs of repairs to the ends of the shoulder straps as well as some darning.
Contemporary illustrations
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Fashion plate from La Belle Assemblée, July 1817
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Fashion plate in R. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, October 1817
History
The skirt was bought with other items at an auction at the house of the Riall family, in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, Ireland. The 1818 Pink spencer was also in that auction and as it is around the same date as this skirt, and the waist measurements are the same, it is likely that this too belonged to Martha Roberts, whose name is in the spencer; the items may have been worn together.