• Facets (new session)
• Description
• Metadata
• Settings
  • owl:sameAs
  • Inference Rule: asEquivalentb3sb3sifpfacetshttp://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#ldpoplwebskos-transvirtrdf-labelvirtrdf-urlNone
    

The quality of this suit suggests it was made by a skilled tailor, either an apprentice who had successfully completed a long apprenticeship to become a master tailor (maître tailleur d'habits), or a master tailor who was used to making bespoke clothing for a range of middling and aristocratic clients. This suit is cut and constructed in exactly the same way as a full-sized adult suit. It is however too small to fit a child’s body, which suggests that it was made half-size on purpose so that a tailor could demonstrate his skills and show the model to a client. The silks are those that would have been readily available from any good mercer, or which might have been kept in small supplies by a tailor who knew his clientele might request them. The green taffeta and lighter weight plain woven silk (possibly an example of what was called sarcenet (armoisin, in French) were amongst the simpler silks woven in many European countries at that time, while the moire with its silver thread and surface finish was more complex and therefore more expensive to make and buy, and woven in specialist centres. The French had such a high regard for English watered silks that they invited English craftsmen to France to teach them the technique in the mid 18th century. Both coat and waistcoat echo the patterns presented in Garsault's essay in Diderot’s Encyclopédie (1769) in the section on tailoring (Plates VI & VII), although the coat has a small collar that is not shown in the patterns. The collar became more prominent from the 1770s onwards. The buttons are very similar to those presented by Diderot under the trade of button and braid maker or boutonnier-passementier (Plate VI, fig. 8) which were made of flat metal thread.