before 1721 Antoine Watteau - Marie-Louise Sirois

(Private collection via Christie’s)

Brown Embroidered Silk Dress, ca. 1725, British.

Met Museum.

Suit

Fabric c.1725-1750

This man’s suit, comprising a coat, waistcoat and breeches, was acquired in Paris. It appears to have been made from an embroidered furnishing fabric, possibly a bed hanging, dating to the second quarter of the 18th Century, that has been turned into a theatrical or fancy dress outfit approximating the mid 18th Century in style. The bright yellow satin has been intricately pieced together, particularly on the waistcoat that, of the three garments, is the least authentic in cut. The sprays of large flowers tied together with ribbon bows, embroidered in couched chenille thread, have either been cut from the original fabric and stitched down or left in situ on the satin. A scattering of metal spangles is most dense on the front of the waistcoat, and the 18th Century metallic lace borders incorporate both very narrow strips of silver thread and metal thread wrapped around a silk core.

John Bright Collection

This jacket is the result of more than 2 and a half years of work, entirely handsewn! It represents the interest in equestrian and equestrian-inspired clothing as fashionable attire in Europe during the late 17th and into the 18th centuries.

I copied it from a jacket held by the Met Costume Institute, accession number 1981.314.2. When I emailed out to them for more information about the jacket, one of the collections people was even kind enough to pull it out of storage and take some detailed shots of the exterior AND interior (thanks Marci!!!)

The Met dates it to the 2nd quarter of the 18th century which could be true--but there are several features of this jacket that could easily be dated earlier to the late 17th century, like the button size and layout. I plan to mull over this more in a later post. At least, I would definitely place it in the earlier end of that 1725-1750 range. However, I chose to style it for the 1730s/1740s because it's Fun For Me 🙂!

One of the most fun parts was gathering accessories to go with the jacket! I steamed a wool hat blank into the tricorn shape and applied the silver trim, made some detachable undersleeves based on paintings by Pietro Longhi, and threw together a matching neck ribbon as if I was some kind of ornamental poodle

Potpourri jar, 1720-40, China for the French market.

Vase of Flowers, Jan van Huysum, 1722

Oil on panel 80.3 x 61 cm (31 5/8 x 24 in.) J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain by Jean Ranc, 1723

Historically accurate Armando Salazar :) with a lazy background

Research:

I keep trying to find military uniforms from the 1720s but, like I expected, no museums care about the first quarter of the 18th century so I sadly couldn’t find any references. I did however find this portrait with similar buttons to Armando’s coat:

And also used this illustration of Calico Jack from 1725 for inspiration!

I’ve never seen anyone roll up the cuffs of their coat like that, so I assume either it was the artist’s interpertation of what a pirate would do, or something like that. Either way I thought it was cool! I also gave him the shoulder gun-holster thing. On second thought I probably should have drawn him with multiple pistols, maybe?

I decided not to give Armando a wig so I could draw his beautiful hair. I can’t tell you if this is something pirate captains did or not because from what I’ve seen no one knows and I’ve seen illustrations with and without wigs.

Ok, that’s it! If I got anything wrong or you happen to know anything else about 1720-1730s fashion please tell me!

Giacomo Ceruti (1698-1767) "Women Working on Pillow Lace (The Sewing School)" (1720s) Oil on canvas Baroque Currently in a private collection

Portrait of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, christian Friedrich Zincke, 1722

1727-1730 Camisole and kaftan (justacorps) of Emperor Peter II (France)

brocade (two types), silk, silver threads, gimp

(Moscow Kremlin Museums)

Needlebound Mitts

Pair of embroidered needlebound mitts, made in Heddal, Telemark in 1727.

Norsk Folkemuseum - Photographer Eva Brænd

Both needlebinding and embroidery are entirely in wool.

unknown if base colour is just white sheep or bleached in some way.

intitials "PT SS"

Pink silk robe volante, 1720-1735.

Palais Galliera.

Woman's gown, 1775-85 of silk satin, oyster-coloured ground with green, coral, red, woven 1720-1725, English, altered 1870-1910

ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī (نابلسي، عبد الغني بن إسماعيل،), Jawāhir al-nuṣūṣ fī ḥall kalimāt al-Fuṣūṣ, [1727] / li-ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn Ismāʻīl al-Nābulusī. جواهر النصوص في حل كلمات الفصوص، [1727] / لعبد الغني بن إسماعيل النابلسي. [Arabic manuscripts, Sufism – Early works to 1800, Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, CT]