First Communion – Spring 1859

In this illustration of a Catholic family, a mother prepares her daughter for her First Communion while the girl’s brother stands nearby. With one hand on a prie-dieu and the other holding her prayer book, the girl wears a white full skirted dress, with three layers to the skirt, each edged with ribbon and picot edging. The dress is cinched at the waist with a large white bow.

The sleeves of the dress are snugly cuffed and the bodice has five bands of ruched fabric at the yoke, over soft vertical gathers. She wears white gloves, a white square-edged hood, and a floor-sweeping white veil. Her mother wears a dark gray full skirted dress with bands of ruched fabric at the hip and knee, and a wide ruffle at the hem. The V-shaped neckline is created with three tiers of ruffles. Five rosettes are spaced down the center front of the bodice, and it has dropped shoulders. Three more tiers of ruffles trim the bodice below the neckline and across the upper sleeves.

The sleeves are full with narrow cuffs with wide white lace ruffles. The mother wears tan gloves and carries a red prayer book. Her blue satin cap is edged white lace and ties with a wide blue ribbon. The cap has fullness at the neck and a ruffle below, in the manner of a sunbonnet. The mother looks at her son who is dressed in military styled fashion and gazes upward in a soulful manner. His brass buttoned coat is cinched at the waist with a buckled belt, and has cord at the shoulder in the manner of epaulettes.

His cuffs are turned back and fastened with two brass buttons. His hair is parted on the side, and he wears white gloves and carries a black billed cap, also in a military style. The family stands against a background of pink and white draperies, and white wall panels with floral swags across the top.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges