1865 Crinoline cage
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1860-1870 A crinoline cage.
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A side view of the cage facing left
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The back of the cage
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Detail of where one of the tapes joins the fabric round the base; one of the tucks taken to shorten the tapes can be seen.
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The cage laid flat
Description
The crinoline cage consists of 17 steel rings which are covered with plaited cotton threads; the top 12 are ⅛" wide, attached to seven 1" wide fawn chevron pattern cotton tapes, 22" long, hanging from the waist. Tucks have been taken in these between the lowest two steels to shorten the cage, and the stitching has come undone on several tapes making the cage lopsided. The top eight steels have a gap between the front tapes, with two pairs of ½" wide tapes spaced down the sides of the gap, to hold the ends together when tied. The lowest five steels are covered by a 10¼" deep band of natural cotton with narrow brown printed stripes, and this is now discoloured; the top one of the these steels is also ⅛" wide and the ones below are ³⁄₁₆" wide, in channels of ½" wide tape sewn on the inside..
The 29" long waistband is red wool, 1" wide, backed on fawn tape. Two metal eyelets, 2" apart along it, are on one end, with a hook on the other end.
The cage folds down flat, and the back part would similarly fold up when the wearer sat down.
Contemporary illustrations
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Detail from a cartoon in Punch, November 1856
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Cartoon in Punch, 1858. Crinoline cages were the subject of much mockery and cartoons.
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Detail from a cartoon in Punch, 1858
History
The crinoline cage was first patented in 1856 by R. C. Milliet in Paris. This relieved women of the weight of the several petticoats necessary to hold out ever widening skirts and allowed skirts to spread even more; the example shown here is a very modest size in comparison with the widest examples. Initially it was made from whalebone, but that was soon replaced by watch-spring steels or wire. The crinoline cage was much mocked in satirical magazines such as Punch.