Dolman-sleeved jacket of cream silk voided velvet with a design of ostrich feathers, trimmed at the neck and front, cuffs and hems with white artic fox and a silk chenille fringe. Lined with machine-quilted satin.This dolman-sleeved jacket was considered the epitome of luxury and good taste in the late nineteenth century. It would have been thought highly fashionable in combining fur as a trimming and a feather design in the fabric, elements from the natural world that fascinated society at the time.
Made in the fashion house of Emile Pingat from expensive materials, it was a garment that only a wealthy, society lady could afford. The Paris fashion house of Pingat (1860-96) was as highly esteemed as that of Charles Worth and known for superb craftsmanship and elegance.
The jacket is lined with machine-quilted satin so would have been warm to wear. It has a single hook fastened at the neck and was designed to fall straight down with a smooth line at the front, and for the back to sit neatly over the fashionably exaggerated bustle of the time.Jacket of silk velvet and fox fur, made by Pingat, Paris, 1885.