Costume sample c. late 18th century

Editor: We’re looking at an embroidered “Costume Sample,” made with mixed media and textile, probably in the late 18th century. It’s at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It's just...charming. It makes me think of Marie Antoinette playing shepherdess. What draws your eye? Curator: Oh, utterly charming! It whisks me away to a world of powdered wigs and whispered secrets in manicured gardens. What fascinates me is the *fragmentary* nature of it. This isn’t a finished piece, but a record of possibilities. Can’t you almost smell the lavender sachets? Think about the anonymous artisan painstakingly stitching each tiny flourish, imagining the grand gown it might adorn. Who was she? Was it purely imagination or a commission? Editor: A commission perhaps, if someone was trying to find a specific color or style? I can almost feel the fabric now that you mention it. How was something like this used back then? Curator: Exactly! Perhaps to court favour of an exacting patron? These samples were vital tools, miniature arguments for the sartorial splendor to come. The level of detail is astonishing. Notice how the watercolor accents dance with the textile work— it is an attempt to capture how it all lays, hangs and sparkles. Look at the stylized flowers, the geometric borders and playful vignettes and wonder - how does that little pastoral scene play into the final costume design, or does it? They weren’t merely copying; they were composing symphonies of thread. Editor: So, it's almost like a mood board from the 1700s! Curator: Precisely! It bridges the gap between concept and creation. A tangible dream! That little pastoral vignette at the bottom. Is it Watteau, perhaps? Or a future waiting to be lived, felt and seen anew.