La peignoir plisié 1860s

Curator: This is Pierre-Louis Pierson's "La peignoir plisé", made in the 1860s. The photograph, a daguerreotype, resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It's breathtaking. The dress dominates the frame. All that fabric, all those pleats…it seems like an immense amount of work went into creating this. What strikes you about the image? Curator: I immediately think about the means of production. This dress, or "peignoir," embodies the labor involved in 19th-century haute couture. The pleating, the lace… imagine the hours, perhaps even days or weeks of meticulous work performed by skilled artisans. Where were they working and under what conditions? That labor is crucial to understanding this image. Editor: That’s an angle I hadn't considered. I was so focused on the surface elegance, I didn’t think about the people who made the dress. Curator: Exactly. Consider also that photography itself was still a relatively new medium at this time. The choice to capture such a display of wealth and intricate craftsmanship points to an active negotiation of class and identity in a rapidly industrializing society. Were photographs such as this encouraging the growth of the fashion industry, or were they meant solely for private display, thus accessible to only certain social classes? Editor: That makes so much sense. It brings the social and material conditions into direct relationship. So, we can see the dress not just as an object of beauty, but as evidence of labor, social status, and even technological advancement through photography? Curator: Precisely! And in understanding that intersection, we can critically examine the boundaries between art, craft, and commerce in this historical moment. What do you take away from that perspective? Editor: This has made me think about how art objects are never simply isolated aesthetic forms but are products of complex social and economic relationships. Now I'm starting to wonder who this woman is and what statement the client was making with the portrait?