Remembering a Giant of Diplomacy

William Henry Seward (1801-1872), Governor of New York State, Senator and Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, was a giant of a man in every sense. Although today he is best known for the purchase of Alaska (Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox), in his time he was respected for his intellect, his moral courage and tenacity and his widespread and effective diplomatic prowess.

The large embroidered hanging.

 

That prowess was recognized in his own time far beyond the borders of the United States. The Qing Dynasty of China held Seward in great regard and gifted him with a fine silk embroidery during his visit there in 1870. Spicer Art Conservation, LLC has recently had the opportunity to repair this large (6 foot by 10 ½ foot) work, renewing its handsome surface, repairing its support and preparing it for display.

 

William Seward's portrait created with silk satin stitches
and a coat of couched metallic threads.

The rose red cloth is closely embroidered with symbols of regard, respect and good wishes. The large portrait of Seward dominates the center while eight Taoist immortals stand on clouds in witness on both sides. A dragon and phoenixes, representing the emperor and empress, glare with authority from the top. 

The upper two rows with the large four-toed coiled dragon (mang) amongst clouds. In one claw is a 'pear' or sometimes called a 'ball.' Below are a pair of long-tailed phoenixes on either side of a sun disc. This sun represents intellectual enlightenment, while the phoenix signifies goodness and benevolence.

 

The eight embroidered Taoist immortals with their symbols.

Three gods called the Fu-Lu-Shou, representing happiness, longevity, and prosperity gaze benevolently down on Seward from the upper border. Scattered throughout the piece are peonies representing Spring, bats for happiness, and cranes for long life.

The Three Stars Gods are together in a row above Seward's portrait: Fuxing (Fu), God of happiness and good fortune holds a scroll; Shouxing (Shou), God of Longevity holding a peach that symbols long life; Luxing (Lu), God of Prosperity, holding a child.

Tigers, the king of animals, fiercely patrol the bottom of the work, protecting the Chinese citizens arrayed immediately below Seward’s portrait; they relax, playing qin and enjoying tea and entertainments.

Several other symbols are present amongst the above mentioned elements. They all add to the meaning of the large embordery. They include: Peonies representing wealth; White cranes for longevity; Mythical beast symbolize courage; bats symbolize 'good luck.' Interestingly based on the Chinese character for happiness (fu) and the final character for bat (pine-fu) that both have the same sound.

Kilbride Handwoven Vestments in the United States

We have just taken into care four beautiful silk chasubles from the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Hudson, NY. Three of the chasubles were woven and constructed in Ditchling, Sussex, UK, in the studio of Valentine Kilbride and Jenny Kilbride, his daughter. They were woven sometime between 1970 and the late 1980s. 

The three chasubles woven by Jenny Kilbride.

The fourth was woven and constructed in Troy, NY by the Sisters of the Cross, using the techniques of the Kilbride studio. The Kilbride vestments have orphrey bands (trim) of linen, or linen with silk embellishment. The chasuble from Troy has no orphrey bands but has a contrasting yoke. 

The chasuble woven in Troy, NY by the Sisters of the Cross.

ValentineKilbride trained at the family dyeworks as a young man before the First World War. Later, he was heavily influenced by the British Arts and Crafts movement. The Kilbrides were part of the Guild of Saint Joseph and Saint Dominic, a collection of artists and artisans that was founded in 1929 and closed in 1989. The Guild itself was founded with a profound attachment to an enlightened form of Roman Catholicism; the tenets of that faith underlaid all of the work of the Guild.

 

Guild of Saint Joseph and Saint Dominic buildings

Valentine Kilbrid

Jenny Kilbride

All the chasubles are in the Gothic or bell style and are constructed with a single seam from one piece of cloth, woven out of 60-inch fabric. The weave structure produces a gorgeous play of light on the fabric as well as a beautiful drape and luscious hand. The Kilbrides’ vestments reflect the principles and aesthetics that flowed within the Roman Catholic church following Vatican Two. Those principles held that the beauty and solemnity of the Eucharist should be expressed through both simplicity and accessibility. The simple design of these chasuble is complemented by the subtle, elegant silk fabric and embodies those Vatican Two aesthetics.

The beautifully woven tape located and the neck and the center front band with areas of wear (left); Sketch of the chasulbe design (right)

Because of the nature of the silk fabric and the regular use of most Kilbride vestments, very few of these beautiful chasubles remain intact today. It is the hope of the Holy Trinity parish that the chasubles may someday return to their point of origin and be shown in the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft. 

The Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft.

To read more about Jenny and her father and life in the guild read this article. 

 

Preserving a Piece of Alaska History

The Pioneers of Alaska is a fraternal organization originally founded in Nome, Alaska, in 1907 to preserve the legacies of all the state's early white settlers, collecting material related to Alaska's history, and promoting "the best interests" of the state. The organization also provides mutual aid, which was a critical safety net in territorial days and early statehood when there was a lack of reliable public or government services. Alaska was home to several similar organizations, but now only the Pioneers remain.

The Pioneers of Alaska was, and still is, an organization formed from the need of helping each other survive. Helping by providing food, care, medical, legal assistance, recreational opportunities, and social interaction was vital for life in this new and sometimes extremely harsh environment. Conditions of life in this rugged frontier made mutual associations necessary. This northern spirit lives on and is the base for the Pioneers of Alaska.[1]

Originally restricted to white males who entered Alaska before 1900, the organization's membership today must be residents of Alaska for at least 20 years to be eligible to join. Once led by men, women became eligible for all leadership positions in 2012. The Pioneers are divided into 16 igloos, or chapters, each for men and women. The Grand Igloo unites Alaska’s Pioneers by meeting once each year with the subordinate Igloos which take turns hosting these conventions. The subordinate igloos maintain active schedules of business meetings and social gatherings. The Pioneers, long involved in legislating fish and game laws and garnering support for the elderly, also played a key role in bringing Alaska into statehood.

The painted fabric banner receiving treatment in the Conservator's Studio was one created for Igloo III, located in St. Michael, a small community near Nome. The St. Michael Igloo was chartered on May 10, 1907. Today, St. Michael's population is less than 500 residents.

Historic image of the hall interior with the banner at the back wall.

Tears in the fabric, paint loss, and a missing tassel were attended to by conservator Gwen Spicer.

The recent banner from the pioneers treated was an unusually constructed vernacular design with four satin weave fabric panels, two dark blue, and two white. These panels were positioned with the selvage edges horizontal, allowing for the stronger weft threads to carry the weight, but also creating vertical tears.

In addition to a painted scene featuring a man pulling a sled at the top, lettering at the bottom spells out the Pioneers' motto, Ecce Novum Astrum, "Behold the New Star."

The reverse side of the banner, a cotton layer, shows extensive water damage.

The layers of the banner were separated to gain access to the reverse sides of the fabric. This also allowed for each side to be cleaned. Then the loose threads were aligned and supported with a full adhesive backing. By having the banner and its layers hanging vertically, the best alignment of the layers could be ensured.

Gwen stitches the banner to a new fabric backing

The banner above is not the first banner of this type to be treated in our studio. Previously a banner a more traditionally made banner from 1909 for the Fairbanks Igloo was treated.  

Before treatment of both the front and reverse sides of the Fairbanks Igloo #4 Banner

Detail of an earlier Pioneer banner from Igloo 4

After Treatment of the Fairbanks Igloo #4 Banner

Notes

[1] Pioneers of Alaska website. http://www.pioneersofalaska.org/igloo_history.html. Accessed April 10, 2020.

Resources

"Behold the New Stars: Pioneers Crown New Royalty." https://www.juneauempire.com/news/behold-the-new-stars-pioneers-crown-new-royalty/. May 14, 2018. Accessed April 10, 2020.

Conservation and Mounting for the Exhibition of an 18th Century Silk Officer's Sash

What do you do when you are asked to perform the seemingly impossible? You bring in the troops.

Much of conservation and museum work is about team work. Spicer Art Conservation, LLC recently completed a project that encompassed the conservation and mounting of 28 military artifacts. (you might be reading more about these artifacts in upcoming future blogs, and if you missed it, check out our recent blog that discussed just the hats that were treated in the project: "Conserving, Storing, and Mounting Hats").

Left: The Silk Sash as it appeared before treatment.

Above: A close up of the weave structure of the Silk Sash. Sprang weave is unique, and while the sash may appear to be a knitted textile, upon close examination, it is not.






For this particular artifact, the curators from the owning institution desired that the Silk sprang-weave Officer's Sash would be mounted as it was worn by the officer. The difference between this request, and other more traditional mannequin based mounts, is that the sash was to be mounted alone, without any other artifact. Instead the sash would be displayed on a singular, custom designed and fabricated, three-dimensional mount that appeared to float in midair.

The sketch that showed the original display idea of the curators.

We were given a sketch of the concept (see above) and the rest was ours to design and execute. Luckily, we were working with the very talented staff of Brigid Mountmaking on this project. A member of their group, Deanna Hovey, came to the studio and we soon worked out an idea. The mount would meet the needs of the curator's display concept, and at the same time, would provide full support of the long sash. The mount would then be fabricated by Deanna and brought back to Spicer Art Conservation later for covering with show fabric, and a final fitting of the sash.

Deanna Hovey (left) of Brigid Mount Makers and Gwen Spicer (right) of
Spicer Art Conservation, LLC work to design a mount to provide support
for the 18th century sash, and to meet the display needs of the exhibit curators.

Once Brigid Mountmaking fabricated the mount, it returned to
Spicer Art Conservation. The team worked to carefully mount the Silk Sash.
Above the photo shows how the sash is supported by first being folded
around one side of the "yin and yang" mount halves. The sash then is
supported at the rear (bottom of photograph above, and detail in photo below)
with another piece that holds it securely in place. The mount is supported
on ethafoam blocks to provide easy manipulation of the mount.

The rear of the display mount has a fully supportive contoured
back support which holds the sash securely in place with overall
pressure between the soft surfaces. The long rod that sticks out
of the back will secure the mount on to the display deck.

The bottom of the mount shows the hardware and metal securing
components. Notice that all metal pieces are perfectly toned
to match the color of the show fabric. 

The sash was fully supported because of the method it was placed within and wrapped around the custom mount. But as that the actual duration of the exhibit was not fully known, additional anchoring stitches were placed at the waist. This was a safety feature to ensure that the effects of gravity would be lessened. Of course the stitches were carefully placed so as not to penetrate the yarns of the sash, rather they anchor loops of the stitches to the mount.

The finished treatment. The Silk Sash is securely mounted in a free-hanging display.

The display of this sash was a different approach than the way other silk officer's sashes that have been prepared for exhibit at Spicer Art Conservation, LLC. These sashes are amazingly stretchy (thanks to the sprang-weave) and much like this one, appeared on American officer's waists as early as the Revolutionary War. In fact, we have treated officer's sashes from the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. If you would like to know more about officer's sashes, check out our blog post that discusses them in depth, particularly the characteristics of sashes from different eras and conflicts: "How do you know? Dating a War of 1812 Sash".

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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.  

Look for Gwen's book, "Magnetic Mounting for Art Conservators and Museums",  to be released in 2018.

A Printed Pillow Sham and the Mexican Border Service of 1916

by Gwen Spicer, Barbara Owens, and David Fitzjarrald

A client recently brought in a unique heirloom; a printed satin pillow sham with a portrait of a beautiful young woman wearing a sombrero and smoking a cigarette. Colored highlights of red, blue and yellow were painted into the design. Attached to the perimeter was an intricate and wide cotton fringe. Located on the lower proper right corner is "Mexican Border Service, 1916" painted in red. The construction of the pillow sham was quite simple, with one row of machine-stitching that secured all of the layers and the fringe together.

The silk satin had been folded while it was stored and this long-term folding had resulted in several vertical tears that were present across the woman's face.

The 100 year old pillow sham as it arrived at Spicer Art Conservation for stabilization and archival mounting and framing. 

As work began, we began to wonder about the message. What was going on at the Mexican border in 1916? With a bit of investigation, it became apparent that a hundred years ago, there was conflict at the border that included a dictator, southern migration for cheap labor, a revolution, an invasion of the United States by Pancho Villa, and the first taste of combat for a young U.S. Army lieutenant named George S. Patton.

The pillow sham after treatment. The tears are stabilized, the creases are removed, fringe cleaned and straightened,
and the pillow case is mounted with archival materials and placed in a sealed frame with UV filtering Plexiglas.

This pillow sham was a souvenir for soldiers involved in the Mexican Expedition. In fact, pillow shams have been a popular item for soldier to send home during war or service. This is a more personal type of souvenir, one that was different from embroidered commemorative "trapunto" textiles brought back from the voyage of the "Great White Fleet" in World War I.  

Pancho Villa (1878-1923) was a famed Mexican revolutionary and guerilla leader. 

So why was there a conflict at the Mexican Border in 1916?  Several things were happening; and it starts with the Mexican Revolution.

Pancho Villa may be a familiar name if you know about the Mexican Revolution. Villa joined Francisco Madero's uprising against Mexican President Porfirio Diaz in 1909, and he later became leader of the Division del Norte cavalry, then governor of Chihuahua. According to Wikipedia, trouble between the United States and Pancho Villa had been growing since October of 1915, when the US government officially recognized Villa's rival and former ally Venustiano Carranza as head of Mexico's government. Moreover, the U.S. provided rail transportation through the U.S. from Texas to Arizona for the movement of over 5,000 of Carranza'a forces to fight Villa at the Battle of Aqua Prieta; where Villa's Division del Norte was smashed. Villa felt betrayed and began to attack U.S. nationals and their property.

Villa killed more than 30 Americans in a raid on the U.S.-Mexican border town of Columbus, New Mexico in March of 1916. In response, the U.S. government sent General John J. Pershing and his troops to enter Mexican sovereign territory and capture Villa (Pancho Villa Expedition, later named the Mexican Expedition). Pershing was unsuccessful and Villa proved elusive during an 11-month manhunt.

1916 cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman, via National Archive Berryman colletion This media is available in the holdings of the
 National Archives and Records Administration, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 306154.

But it wasn't just the Revolution that was going on; in fact something larger was on the horizon. The U.S.-Mexico border was a potential location for a German-backed invasion by Mexico. The threat of such an invasion was discovered in January of 1917 when the British intercepted and deciphered the Zimmerman Telegram, discussing Germany's proposal to Mexico to form an alliance with Germany should the U.S. enter World War I. In March of 1917 the contents of the telegram were made public and affirmed by Zimmerman himself. The Mexican Expedition ended when the United States entered World War I (the U.S. declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917) and Pershing was recalled.

As an interesting side note, who happened to be serving under General Pershing? None other than a young lieutenant George S. Patton. There is a strange coincidence for us here at Spicer Art Conservation as we had recently conserved several items from the collection of the George S. Patton Museum of Leadership. We of course wondered, is there a pillow case among Patton's personal items from his service at the border?

We also discovered that a pillow sham is a common souvenir that was not only sent home to loved ones by service men, but it was also received by them as well. And, it is just as common today as it was one hundred years ago.

Examples of military souvenir pillow cases

At Spicer Art Conservation we conserve historic textiles and artifacts. Whether it is a military uniform, a historic flag or banner, a tablecloth or quilt from your Aunt Sally, or General George Patton's famous Green Hornet Uniform, it is conserved with care and professional exacting standards. Visit our website and check out our textiles page for more about previous projects and artifacts we treat at Spicer Art.
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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice. Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper. Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled. To contact her, please visit her website.

The conservation of 17th century needlework textiles, a conglomeration of stitches, symbolism and media

Mid-17th century English Stump Work embroideries feature a variety of symbolic images, with a variety of stitches, using a variety of materials. These pieces truly are are early "multi-media" pieces, and with their complex embroidery is a multitude of conservation needs. These 17th century pieces are rendered in a raised-work style, often referred to as "Stump Work". The images depicted in the needlework, the techniques and materials used, make these stump work embroideries all similar in appearance.

Recently in the studio was an embroidery called "Mordecai and Esther". It is named after the biblical story, yet the image is of Esther and King Ahaznerus of Persia. According to the story, Esther marries the King, and as his queen bravely implores his mercy to save her people from execution.

The overall image shows the density of embroidered symbols. Notice the windows in the town, they shine due to pieces of mica embroidered into the work. Below is a detailed image of the mica windows. From the collection of Newport Restoration.

Biblical stories are found frequently in embroideries of this time, the story of Esther is quite common because it was accepted as "historical" because it was Old Testament, and therefore not seen as overly religious (so it would not offend). The following quote describes this type of work quite well:

"The variety of method was almost infinite, though the range of subjects was limited.  The curiously disassociated juxtaposition of "curiosities', mythological, religious, natural historical and even heraldic, in unrelated scales, combined in creating an atmosphere of magic or fantasy" - Lanto Synge in Antique Needlework 1982

These needlework textiles are heavily worked with symbolic images. (Much is written on the symbolism found in art, and especially symbolism in textiles such as tapestries). This work alone includes:

• Stag (in corner)
• Lion (in corner)
• Unicorn (in corner)
• Leopard (in corner)
• Birds of various species
• A water fountain
• Clouds with rain and a rainbow
• Sun placed at the top, center
• Fish in a bird's mouth
• Trees - various: pears, grapefruit, orange? pomello?
• Insects - many species and sizes, disproportional to things around them, i.e. bug same size as bird
• Flowers - various
• Camel
• Squirrel
• City or town in the background

Detail of symbols and "distortion" of proportion (hare and peacock are the same size as a caterpillar, which is on the same scale as a flower).

The multitude of stitching techniques and symbolic imagery is typical of needlework from the mid 1600's. In fact, as we looked at some other examples, the style and manner in which the pictures are stitched makes one biblical story was almost indistinguishable from another. Below is a needlework picture from the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the similar features are obvious.

These multi-media needlework pictures require the conservation of a multitude of elements including:

-Silk ground, backed in linen, with backing of silk.

-Silk thread, metallic thread, metal sequins, glass beads, pearls, mica

Closer inspection shows unique stitching techniques to create flat satin shiny areas, richly complex stitches creating 3-D images, and elements like pearls and sequins and chips of mica to create areas of interest and detail. Stitching techniques include (but are not limited to): tent stitch, gobelin, satin, french knot,  couching, rococo, detached buttonhole, etc. The satin stitch is easy to examine and clean in that the stitch is flat and easily seen. The knotted stitches and the dimensional work is much thicker and gives "nooks and crannies" for dirt to hide and mask unseen damage hidden below.

The added beads, pearls and sequins create interest, and more 3-dimensional areas. Below is a closer look, where you can see the metallic threads used to create the robe of this individual.

Regardless of condition, a 350+ year-old embroidery is a fragile textile and must be approached with regard to the age of the materials. This particular embroidery, while dirty and with some areas of loss,  is in good condition. As we always do, the treatment starts with a vacuuming using very low suction and a small brush attachment. When the silk and linen backings were removed, the embroidery showed evidence that it had been trimmed. This could indicate it was the lid or a panel of a larger object like a "casket" (not coffin, much like the one below).

A 17th century stump work casket from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The needlework we treated had been attached for a very long time to a wooden strainer and had been framed. It was removed from the strainer and placed on a mount constructed of DiBond that was cut to fit inside of the frame. A sealed package was created around the artifact that contained the the new DiBond backboard as well as new Plexiglas and spacers. The original wooden backing was returned, but only after it was separated from the sealed package with an interleaving layer of Marvelseal to protect the needlework from any other possible acid migration.

Some interesting work has been done by conservators using microscopy to look more closely at the complex threads used in these, and other 17th century embroideries, and how these threads were produced. Another interesting find is discussed at length on The National Gallery of Victoria's (Australia) website. While doing their microscopic evaluation they found evidence of peacock feathers used to embellish the bodies and feelers of insects depicted in the embroidery. Sadly, only these small pieces of evidence are left due to the quick degradation of feathers. Their website also includes x-radiography images of a needlepoint revealing hidden pieces of fabric and thread and how they were used.
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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.

Textile Conservation of First Lady Angelica Van Buren's dresses

By Barbara Owens, SAC staff

There is so little known about this intriguing First Lady. We discussed at length the mystery of Angelica Van Buren's wedding gown in our post on August 1, 2012. The dress, which is the subject of that post, is said to be her wedding gown. If you want to read about the connection (or lack of) between that dress and the dress she wears in her official white House portrait, visit our blog post here.

This stunning bodice is truly eye-popping. The color is still
amazingly vibrant, this dress must have been a show-stopper.

In that post, the information we discovered about Angelica portrayed her as a warm gentle spirit who wholeheartedly accepted her role as First Lady, despite her young age and despite the fact that she did not have to take on this responsibility. At 21 years old, she agrees to serve as first lady at the request of her widowed father-in-law, President Martin Van Buren.

Angelica is young and beautiful. She brings a fresh look to the White House, and although she will be fiercely criticized by Van Buren's foes as being aristocratic-like, she is nonetheless the daughter of a hugely successful southern plantation owner. She is wealthy in her own right and has a clear style befitting a woman of her upbringing and social status.

This style became very clear to us at SAC when we were asked to re-house several dress sets belonging to Angelica. Each of the components of these dresses were beautifully made, the colors (especially the purple dress) were wonderful. And even though they have faded in the 170 or so years since she wore them, you could easily imagine Angelica making her official entrance as hostess of a White House dinner, with all heads turning to see this fashionable young lady.

The matching bodice to the bodice pictured above and skirt of the exact pattern/color. Here you can more
clearly see the white dots in the fabric, these are not as prominently visible in the other purple pieces.
Here you can also see the shattered silk under the armpits.

The components of the dress sets are in fair to poor condition, with the most compromised parts being the parts soiled from perspiration. In these areas the silk was shattering and much of the fabric here was vulnerable to loss.

The dress sets are referred to as such because each consists of pieces that would be put together as a set to make a dress. Each of the components we treated clearly went with another piece. The purple skirt matched the purple bodices and the black bodice, the pink silk skirt matches the the pink silk bodices, and could easily be paired with the black velvet bodice. The only bodice that does not seem to have perfect match is the purple bodice with the ribbons at the sleeve. Its matching skirt may no longer exist.  Also, it seems to be of a different era than the other dress components, perhaps that is why it just does  not "go" with them. But interestingly, it bears a very strong resemblance to the wedding dress (pictured below).

This particular bodice did not have a skirt which accompanied it. However, it seemed to "go" with the
 black velvet bodice pictured below. The "pink" bows at the sleeve had a matching bow that had been
detached from any of the pieces.  Perhaps it was meant to be placed at the front of this bodices.

The dresses were only to be re-housed for storage. Each dress component received a padded support to reduce the folds and therefore crushing of the dress. The dress sets were placed into acid free boxes with slings to reduce handling while examining or moving the dress components from their storage boxes.

The dresses in this "set" were labeled as such because many had interchangeable parts. The pink bodice with poof sleeves (below) is the same fabric/color as the bodice to the left. Each could be worn with the pink skirt, in the same color/fabric.

Here three of the bodices are grouped to be stored together.  

An up-close photo of the sleeve of the purple bodice. Here you can clearly see previous
repairs,the staining from perspiration, and most importantly the detail of the fabric.

The exact date that these dresses were made or worn is not known for sure. Angelica serves as First Lady from 1839 to 1841 and then spends several years at the Van Buren estate in Kinderhook, New York, which is the location of the National Historic Site. When one looks at the style of the dresses and compares them to standard fashion "plates" of the 1830's they are clearly lacking the "leg-of-mutton" sleeve of the early 1830's, but certainly take on the late 1830's look as indicated below.

This is a wonderful image from the Museum of Costume. Notice the model with her back to us shows
that infamous "leg-of-mutton" sleeve, while the model who faces us shows a gown silhouette that
could easily be in keeping with the dress components from the Van Buren NHS.

The 1840's fashion standards may be more clearly met with these dresses. As Susan Jarrett writes on the history of Fashion and Dress section of the website www.maggiemayfashions.com: "By the mid 1840s, the shape of the skirt took on a bell shape and stiff crinolines along with multiple layers of petticoats became necessary to aid in lifting the circumference of the skirt. Double flounced skirts became quite popular. Bodices of the late Romantic period typically had basque waists (or elongated waistlines which ended in a point at the front). Necklines were round, V-shaped, and wide for both day and evening wear." This description seems to best fit the dress sets above. But below is an 1855 painting by Franz Xaver Winterhalter with some similar necklines to what we see in the wedding dress or purple bodice with bows. Hmmm…the mystery continues.

Keep in mind that Angelica's dresses are at about 170 years old. They were clearly cared for, and are a glimpse into a relatively unknown life of the 8th First Lady of the United States. While the dresses will need to undergo full conservation treatment in the future, they are now being housed and stored in a way which will not hasten that treatment. Their padded supports and archival storage materials will allow for their safe keeping. 

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Gwen Spicer is a textile conservator in private practice.  Spicer Art Conservation specializes in textile conservation, object conservation, and the conservation of works on paper.  Gwen's innovative treatment and mounting of flags and textiles is unrivaled.   To contact her, please visit her website.