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Dress

Object number94.51.324 a,b

Datec. 1880

MediumSilk, cotton, metal, glass, linen, wood

Credit LineTransfer from Carnegie Museum of Natural History

DescriptionTwo-piece floral dress consisting of bodice and a skirt. Bodice. Cream silk brocade with wide blue and narrow black stripe and multi-colored sprays and nosegays of flowers. Multi gored, fitted with steel stays. Sweetheart neckline with front opening and multiple satin covered buttons. At one point there had been a lace ruffle around throat (only small remnant remains). Straight sleeves elbow length sleeves with binding. Lace removed from cuffs at some point. Skirt. Cream silk brocade with wide blue and narrow black stripe with multi-colored sprays and nosegays of flowers. Hook-and-eye closure at back. Panniers divided in front and swept back around back, gathered into long full overskirt with train. Ruching around hem. Pink satin skirt front cut and sewn on the bias. Six pink rosettes down center seam. Five rows of fringe starting at sides and meeting in center. Fringe is made of silk threads. Strings of spaced wooden beads (five each) covered in cream silk and strings of colorless glass beads. Layer of cream lace behind each row of fringe. Satin tabs across skirt front bottom, with lace and fringe between them and pleated satin underneath.Dimensions26.5 in. (67.3 cm)
Historical NotesThis dress belonged to Rosalie Spang. Rosalie's grandfather, Henry Spang, started the Etna Iron Works with his son, Rosalie's father, Charles Frederick in 1828. By the 1840s, they were making the first iron pipe west of the Alleghenies. By 1877, the company name had changed to Spang, Chalfant & Company. Rosalie died in 1932 at the age of 87. Miss Spang spent much of her life in Nice, France. The dress was donated to the Carnegie Museum

Related institution Spang, Chalfant and Company

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