Individual textiles and textile types»Daily and general garments and textiles»Mid-Eighteenth Century Waistcoat (India)
Embroidered waistcoat made in India, probably for the European market, mid-18th century.
Courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum, acc. no. T.217-1953.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London houses a waistcoat measuring 76.2 x 38.1 cm. It was made in the mid-eighteenth century in India, perhaps for the European market, and consists of a cotton ground material with woollen thread embroidery.
Down the centre of the waistcoat is a mixture of Indian and European motifs, with embroidered flowers, leaves and tendrils, which are worked in buttonhole and chain stitch with an ari (tambour) hook. The cuffs are similarly decorated.
V&A online catalogue (retrieved 4 January 2017).
WV