Priest's aube with beautiful appliqué lace decoration
This is a priest’s aube, made in finest linen batiste, with a very wide hem and cuffs of netting over which a thick decoration of appliqué flowers has been applied. This was made to go under a silk chausable, which would have covered much of the garment, leaving the arms free and the wide hem to swing around the wearer’s feet. It would have been made in-house by nuns, and the work is absolutely exquisite, as is the quality of the linen. I can’t date this with any accuracy but I can say that the stylisation of the flowers, particularly of the wisteria and the wheat sheaves, has been clearly greatly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, and at a guess I would say this is 1910-20. The wheat sheaves are a traditional religious symbol - in the region where this came from they also signify wealth, which is something that the Catholic Church has always had in abundance - the very finest textiles I find are often religious, like this one.
This is in pretty good nick considering its age and fineness. There are some small damages to the linen body, some parts that have come unstitched and need repairing, but mostly around the gathered neckline which will always be the weakest point in a fine, large garment like this. The wide intricately decorated sleeve cuffs seem to be as perfect as they could be - I cannot trace any damage to them. The majority of the damage is to the delicate net hem, and even there, the vast swathe of it is undamaged - the appliqué all seems to be in order, the damage is confined to just several small sections and is to the netting alone - it could be patched delicately with netting and those patches would be lost in the design if properly executed. I have taken photos of all significant damage - there is really not a lot when considering age and fineness.
These garments are now incredibly rare. I have only found four or five of them in eight years and I have never found any with this level of decoration or even close.
Please click on the photos to open them up full-sized.
To purchase, please contact me.
This is a priest’s aube, made in finest linen batiste, with a very wide hem and cuffs of netting over which a thick decoration of appliqué flowers has been applied. This was made to go under a silk chausable, which would have covered much of the garment, leaving the arms free and the wide hem to swing around the wearer’s feet. It would have been made in-house by nuns, and the work is absolutely exquisite, as is the quality of the linen. I can’t date this with any accuracy but I can say that the stylisation of the flowers, particularly of the wisteria and the wheat sheaves, has been clearly greatly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, and at a guess I would say this is 1910-20. The wheat sheaves are a traditional religious symbol - in the region where this came from they also signify wealth, which is something that the Catholic Church has always had in abundance - the very finest textiles I find are often religious, like this one.
This is in pretty good nick considering its age and fineness. There are some small damages to the linen body, some parts that have come unstitched and need repairing, but mostly around the gathered neckline which will always be the weakest point in a fine, large garment like this. The wide intricately decorated sleeve cuffs seem to be as perfect as they could be - I cannot trace any damage to them. The majority of the damage is to the delicate net hem, and even there, the vast swathe of it is undamaged - the appliqué all seems to be in order, the damage is confined to just several small sections and is to the netting alone - it could be patched delicately with netting and those patches would be lost in the design if properly executed. I have taken photos of all significant damage - there is really not a lot when considering age and fineness.
These garments are now incredibly rare. I have only found four or five of them in eight years and I have never found any with this level of decoration or even close.
Please click on the photos to open them up full-sized.
To purchase, please contact me.
This is a priest’s aube, made in finest linen batiste, with a very wide hem and cuffs of netting over which a thick decoration of appliqué flowers has been applied. This was made to go under a silk chausable, which would have covered much of the garment, leaving the arms free and the wide hem to swing around the wearer’s feet. It would have been made in-house by nuns, and the work is absolutely exquisite, as is the quality of the linen. I can’t date this with any accuracy but I can say that the stylisation of the flowers, particularly of the wisteria and the wheat sheaves, has been clearly greatly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement, and at a guess I would say this is 1910-20. The wheat sheaves are a traditional religious symbol - in the region where this came from they also signify wealth, which is something that the Catholic Church has always had in abundance - the very finest textiles I find are often religious, like this one.
This is in pretty good nick considering its age and fineness. There are some small damages to the linen body, some parts that have come unstitched and need repairing, but mostly around the gathered neckline which will always be the weakest point in a fine, large garment like this. The wide intricately decorated sleeve cuffs seem to be as perfect as they could be - I cannot trace any damage to them. The majority of the damage is to the delicate net hem, and even there, the vast swathe of it is undamaged - the appliqué all seems to be in order, the damage is confined to just several small sections and is to the netting alone - it could be patched delicately with netting and those patches would be lost in the design if properly executed. I have taken photos of all significant damage - there is really not a lot when considering age and fineness.
These garments are now incredibly rare. I have only found four or five of them in eight years and I have never found any with this level of decoration or even close.
Please click on the photos to open them up full-sized.
To purchase, please contact me.