Opera Dress – Winter 1813

Woman in an opera dress from 1813. The woman wears a long-sleeved brown dress with with a pink bodice. There are pink and gold ribbon details on the bodice and shoulders. The skirt is hemmed in with a sawtooth decoration. She wears an ermine wrap around her shoulders. She wears white shoes with small bows and a gold necklace with two chains. Attached to both chains is a cross or heart pendant. She holds a pink and gold square handbag with a red strap in her left hand. Her hat has a deep brim with rows of netting edged with pearls over it. She wears pearl drop earrings. She stands next to an ornate stone pedestal which features a woman and two hippocamps, seahorses with horse’s heads and fish tails from classical mythology, carved into a square panel on the front face. The figure is probably Thetis, the Greek goddess of the sea. The contributor has written “1813” in the bottom right hand corner of the plate.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges