Exhibition
Lace: The Art of Needle and Bobbin
Higbee Gallery, March 23, 2007 - January 6, 2008
Wedding Dress and Veil
Machine-made Chantilly-style Lace
Hand-made Duchess Lace Headdress
American,
Cotton,
silk and wax
L
at CB: Dress 114”; Veil 125”
Wedding
dress of white Chantilly-style machine made lace with satin covered buttons from
neck to mid-thigh and a cathedral train with a wired “Medici” collar. Under-dress of white satin cut on the
bias. The tulle veil is attached to a
headdress of hand-made bobbin and needle lace and orange blossoms. Wedding apparel often uses elements from
different historic fashion periods in fanciful and romantic combinations as in
this example of a wired collar with a Renaissance flavor. The lace used for the headdress may have been
a mid-nineteenth century dress collar and been used as “something old.” The silk tulle used for wedding veils
disintegrates over time, turning to dust.
The image shows the original tulle although the one in the exhibition is
a reproduction.
Gift
of Evangeline Davey Smith, 1990.67.178a-d
Shown
with:
Handkerchief
White
linen trimmed with Honiton lace
15
¾” square
Silverman/Rodgers
Collection, 1983.1.1455
Evening Dress
Machine-made Chantilly-style Lace
American,
1930s
Cotton,
silk
L
at CB: 49 ½”
Rows
of pale peach and ecru machine-made Chantilly-style lace are shirred and
attached to a cotton net base. The dress
is trimmed with pale peach and green velvet ribbons. The under-dress is pink silk.
Gift
of Evangeline Davey Smith, (Mrs. Alexander M. Smith)
in memory of Mrs. Martin L. Davey, Sr. (Bernice
Chrisman Davey), 1991.11.177
Pierre Mignard
(attributed)
French,
1612-1695
Portrait of a Woman as Diana
Oil
on canvas, 54 ½” x 45 ¼” framed
Formerly
in the collection of Lady Beatrice Kerr Clark
Silverman/Rodgers
Collection, 1983.4.720