Housecoat by Anonymous

Housecoat c. 1750 - 1799

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textile

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sculpture

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textile

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decorative-art

Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain

This floral housecoat was made in an unknown place by an unknown person at an unknown time. This anonymity is interesting, as it implies it was never intended to be considered as art, and thus may reveal more to us about social history than high art might. Consider this garment within a network of global exchange: textiles, dyes, and design motifs moving across continents. The floral pattern could indicate a fascination with the exotic East, a trend in European fashion and interior design, or perhaps a domestic imitation. The housecoat itself speaks to notions of privacy, leisure, and social class; a marker of bourgeois domesticity. While this housecoat may not seem to challenge existing social norms, its very existence relies on those structures being in place. By looking at objects like this we can start to uncover the social fabric in which art is created and consumed. To fully understand this garment, we would want to research the history of textile production, trade routes, and fashion trends.

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rijksmuseum's Profile Picture
rijksmuseum almost 2 years ago

Large quantities of housecoats were sent from India to the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries; at times ready made, sometimes as ‘sewing kits’. This robe is probably the product of such a kit. A more common practice at that time was retailoring this kind of robe from a large cloth, a palampore.

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