Material: White Cotton
Size: Length, center back apx. 25 inches,
Width across back, underarm to
underarm apx. 17 inches,
Width across front panels at chest, apx. 8 inches
each.
Quantity: 1
Fine Edwardian sensibility and beautiful period hand made craftsmanship are found
in this lovely antique / vintage Irish crochet lace jacket, c. 1909 - 1915.
Without
question this jacket was beautifully designed and constructed by a very talented
lacemaker.
The attractive design features a graceful cutaway front, elegant flared sleeves and
stylish back / side vents.
The crocheted lace is very tightly and evenly worked with
all of the design elements so loved by collectors; an extensive variety of aesthetic
floral and foliate motifs in a very pleasing and attractive arrangement, using an
incredible abundance of three dimensional work. Additionally, the lace maker worked
in a variety of different types of raised work. Of course there are the commonly
found large three dimensional flowers, but this jacket includes numerous variations
of this particular element, as well as three leaf clovers, numerous individual petals
and stems. etc.
While this outstanding work covers the entire garment it is probably
easiest to view some of what we refer to in the previous paragraph in the images
of jacket back.
In addition, the maker incorporated several subtle opposing/reverse motifs. (think
the yin & yang symbol) My understanding is that this particular technique is very
difficult to accomplish while still maintaining perfect garment symmetry, scale and
shape. Accordingly it is rarely seen except in pieces executed by an extremely talented
lace maker. Very interesting and unusual.
The jacket is white, but not a bright white,
rather a slightly softer shade. Actual color is best shown in the first three images;
top row, left to right. Flash made the following three images appear slightly whiter
than actual, while the first two images in the last row appear very yellow due to
florescent lighting. Please accept our apologizes for the image color variations
and as mentioned above, use the first three pictures for the most accurate shade/color
representation.
The jacket is in overall extremely nice antique estate condition.
I gently soaked it to remove light age related darkening and it is now fresh and
ready to be worn. While the jacket was drying and I was carefully re-fluffing the
raised work, I noticed a few threads in a couple of places, which I just tucked back
under the lace work. I do not know if a bit of sewing is included in construction
of this type of jacket, or if these are tiny old repairs. If they are repairs they
are virtually undetectable, so I consider this extremely inconsequential and minor.
Slightly more significant, however is a small area of apx. 2 & ½ inches that shows
some tiny speckles of very light discoloration, which I have tried to show in last
image. The tiny specks are hard to see, but are located primarily in this general
area, so please review the image very carefully. It is possible that there may be
an individual speck elsewhere that I missed, however I checked the jacket very thoroughly.
It is likely that the aforementioned specks may resolve with further soaking. Also,
I did not use bleach, as this is something I rarely ever use, but you may choose
to try a few drops, or similar preferred treatment. Please view the close up picture,
so you can see this is quite a minor consideration and keep in mind that this is
an enlarged, very detailed image.
We see no holes, snags or similar damage to jacket.
No underarm stains. The cotton ground is strong, clean and durable.
While this jacket is not extremely large, (please check measurements above) do consider
that it was not meant to close at front, but rather drape softly as shown on the
mannequin in image #1. I probably have jacket front pulled together more than it
should be, however, because it is a little large on this mannequin. For additional
reference, the measurements of this display mannequin are as follows: Bust ~ 34,
Waist ~ 26 & 1/2, Hips ~ 35, with a shoulder circumference of 38 & ½ inches. The
jacket fits loosely on this form, so I expect, with the exception of the shoulder
circumference, that two inches, (possibly slightly more due to stretch) could be
added to all other dress form measurements (bust, waist, hips) and with a lightweight
fabric underneath the jacket would still fit comfortably.
Please carefully consider
individual proportions however, as we cannot refund due to non fit and we want all
of our customers to be completely happy with any purchase. Also, please keep in mind
that this garment does have some specks, albeit small and light, as shown in close
up. Although we feel this is an extremely minor cosmetic issue, especially for a
hundred year old article, purchaser must allow same consideration to be happy with
jacket. If additional information is required please contact us.
We love this jacket
and hope you can tell from the images that it is a wonderful example of Edwardian
style and fashion. It was purchased locally almost 20 years ago from a lifetime
collector liquidating her entire high end collection, intact. We purchased everything
and while we sold a number of items we also have many outstanding pieces that we
will ultimately offer here on this site. Like this jacket, our items are fresh to
the Internet market, never having been previously listed on any kind of online venue.
