Dress and mantilla

Silk Taffeta Dress, ca. 1850-1900

Bodice with signs of having undergone alterations. It has been let out on both sides and the front left side, a piece has been added to the zone where it closes, where a different lining is apparent. A seam has also been taken out of the upper sleeve seam, and a piece added to the right underarm.

Female skirt in peacock blue, part of a crinoline skirt. Made of silk taffeta with a cotton warp. Full length, with a waistband and flare distributed evenly all around the diameter.

Inventory: MT-103172-73

Mantilla in Silk bobbin lace, ca. 1850-1900

According to the Catálogo de Encajes (Catalogue of Lace Types) by M. Ángeles González, the silk lace category, which this piece can be attributed to given the technical similarities, is an eminently Spanish type. The major explosion of silk lace took place in the 17th century and it is most associated with mantillas, known as Spanish mantillas from the 18th century on.

This lace is made of silk thread, though 2 or more ply cotton may also be used: one more twisted yarn for the reseau and a thicker, looser one for the motifs. They are in black or white or occasionally ecru coloured, the natural colour of unbleached silk when it has been insufficiently manipulated.

This type of fine lace uses the cloth stitch for the fillings, unlike Chantilly lace which uses the half-stitch. Another difference is that the cloth stitch gimp used in the fillings is of floss silk whereas the French lace does not use this; it is all made of fine and twisted thread.

The technical elements used are the following: cloth stitch for the fillings and toile stitch for the reseau; for the adornment a number of different decorative stitches are used, the most common being the honeycomb stitch and the Kat stitch. There is a great contrast in blonde lace-making and transparency produced by the fineness and delicacy of the reseau. There is also great richness created by the definition of the fillings and emphasised by a framing thread and a profusion of pointelle.

Inventory: MT-009200