Terms and conditions of use
Stomacher
(1720-1740)
- Medium
- silk, silk (thread, ribbon), gilt-metal (thread, cord, braid), cotton (lining), whalebone
- Measurements
- 37.0 × 20.5 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- England
- Accession Number
- CT209-1982
- Department
- International Fashion and Textiles
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1982
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest - Gallery location
- 17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
-
A stomacher is a decorative V-shaped panel that fastens the open centre-front of a woman’s bodice. This Stomacher is lined with whalebone to hold the panel rigid. In its upper third, a dynamic design retains the symmetry typical of the period, with meandering stems and blooms accented by metallic thread cascading below. The decorative crisscross gold cord lacing served the function of providing anchorage for the ends of a lady’s kerchief, which she might tuck seductively into her bodice.
- Physical description
- Ribbed ivory silk stomacher embroidered with trailing flower and stem motif, bound in yellow silk grosgrain and finished with fine metallic braids and cord.