Exhibition Spotlight: A rare extant blue and white striped homespun linen dress, c. 1800, with a New Hampshire provenance

By Kimberly Alexander

Understated and refined describes the time-worn beauty of this hand-sewn, unlined homespun c. 1800 linen dress. The indigo blue and white stripes, loosely pleated back, and empire waist subtly elevate the style of this every day, at-home or work dress.

 

The numerous patches and repairs reveal its inherent value to the wearer/wearers and the reluctance to discard such a frequently overlooked garment. It is not known if the maker and the wearer are the same or related in some way – perhaps future research will uncover additional information. Employing blue and white stripes was indeed common in early America. There was an extensive network of flax growers, spinners and linen weavers working throughout New Hampshire and the Seacoast region in the 18^th and into the 19^thcenturies. 

The weft-woven stripes indicate that the fabric was turned and cut horizontally to obtain the vertical striping implying a definite style choice and economical use of the linen. As noted by Adjunct Curator for the Irma Bowen Collection, Astrida Schaeffer: "In all, the gown is assembled out of thirty-two pieces (aside from its patches) and its use of fabric is extremely frugal, in places suggesting that the fabric is recycled from a previous object." Donated by Mary Pepperrell Ffrost Sawyer, of Durham NH, the dress has a strong local New Hampshire connection.

 You can view the dress at the Woodman Museum in Dover in the exhibition “Combing History: Flax and Linen in New Hampshire” through 24 November 2024.

Courtesy of The Milne Special Collections and Archives at Dimond Library. University of New Hampshire, part of the Irma G. Bowen Textile Collection

 

For a detailed description and images, see: https://scholars.unh.edu/bowen_collection/597/

UNH Dimond Library, Archives and Special Collections