Object Details
- Washington, Martha
- Description
- Dress worn by Martha Washington. The gown's basic style is typical of the early 1780s. The painted pattern on the silk taffeta is a repeat of four floral bouquets and 58 creatures (butterflies, ants, beetles, snails, bees, grasshoppers, wasps, ladybugs, spiders, and grubs) places within the spaces between the ribbon-trellis pattern. Each crossover is accented with a painted green "jewel."
- The fabric displays characteristics common to 18th- century hand-painted Chinese textiles: fluid brush strokes, white lead base coat of paint, green malachite pigment for the "jewels," and a 30-inch selvage-to-selvage width.
- The collar and cuffs are reproductions
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mrs. John McFarland Bergland and Mrs. Asher Abbott White
- Late 18th Century
- ID Number
- 1987.0080.01
- catalog number
- 1987.0080.01
- accession number
- 1987.0080
- Object Name
- Dress
- Physical Description
- silk (overall material)
- salmon pink; green (overall color)
- Measurements
- overall: 55 in x 33 in x 48 in; 139.7 cm x 83.82 cm x 121.92 cm
- See more items in
- Political History: Political History, First Ladies Collection
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- Clothing & Accessories
- National Museum of American History
- used
- First Ladies
- Subject
- First Ladies
- Record ID
- nmah_1089608
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-2c63-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
