1820s Embroidered braces
| ||||||||||||||||||
1820-1840 A pair of braces
-
The ends which would be fastened at the back
-
The central sections of the braces
-
The ends which would be fastened at the front, with buckles to adjust the length.
-
The back of the ends with the buckles for adjustment
-
The back of the other ends
Description
The braces are made of ivory silk moiré decorated with an embroidered polychrome floral trail, and lined with green silk taffeta.
They are about 1¾" wide, one is 20½" long and the other is 21⅛"; there are buckles on one end to adjust the length, which are ½" deep with three prongs and have the initials MD embossed on them.
Sections on each end have steel springs in 11 stitched channels which make the ends stretchy (one has only ten springs) and these are about 3½" long; the ends of the springs have come detached on one of them leaving ¾" of empty silk channels which accounts for that end being wider and longer. The sections at the ends with the buckles are lined with a darker green silk taffeta.
The ends beyond the springs are tapered to about ⅞" wide; they are 2" long on the ends with the buckles, and 2¼" long on the other ends. They have buttonholes, ⅞" long, which are all bound with the darker green taffeta. These are for attaching to buttons on the trousers of the wearer, and presumably they were positioned so that they crossed diagonally on the back to keep them securely on the shoulders.
The embroidery is in floss silk thread and the flowers are all different, in shades of pink, red, lilac and mauve, with leaves in shades of green. One of the ends has the name Amilié embroidered in black above a violet, and the other has 'Ma' above a violet, and 'est à vous' below it. These braces might have been a gift for a loved one.
Contemporary illustration
-
Self portrait by Giuseppe Tominz, 1836. National Gallery of Slovenia
History
Springs had been used in clothing since the end of the eighteenth century. In 1799 John Foster took out a patent for a “Brace or sling acting by means of a steel spring for suspending breeches, pantaloons or drawers”; the application included a drawing of the braces.