Two-piece silk gown

Two-piece yellow ochre moiré silk gown. The bodice, with nine whalebones, is close-fitting down to the hips and has a deep square neckline. It is fastened at the front by fifteen glass buttons painted with small violets. The sleeves, tight-fitting to below the elbows, end in a double organza and lace ruche. Two large bows emerging from the small panels of cloth on the back of the bodice are knotted on the back of the cloche skirt adorned with a horizontal band of drapery ending in falbalas and a fringe. The hems are dominated by tight polychrome silk embroidery with turquoise bead pearls in floral motifs. Smock-stitched inserts alternate with a combination of the various fabrics used in the skirt, in a juxtaposition typical of the exuberant ‘style tapissier’ that was so fashionable in the 1870s and ‘80s.

This gown belonged to the Florentine aristocrat Sofia Uzielli, wife of the Hispano-Portuguese art photographer Mario Nunes Vais.

Donated by Laura Weil Nunes Vais Weill, 1984.