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Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - New Brunswick, Municipality - Marysville
Category Personal artifacts
Sub-category Clothing, outerwear
Department History
Museum CMH
Earliest 1865/01/10
Latest 1876/12/31
Materials Cotton
Measurements Length 53.5 cm, Width 240.0 cm, Thickness 5.9 cm

Caption Comments on this dress from the Gibson family
Additional Information Child's dress of white (now yellowed) cotton muslin, square neckline, short sleeves; skirt gathered to waistband and trimmed with three areas of drawn thread work; all hand-stitched. Front and back of bodice is cut with wide, shallow, square necklines; cut without side seams and pieced at the back right neckline corner; neckline adjusted by tape through casing, and finished with narrow drawn thread work with lattice-like design. Fullness in bodice irregularly gathered onto wide waistband, and concentrated at centre front and centre back areas. Centre back placket buttoned in waistband with one button/buttonhole. Dress has short raglan sleeves with fullness concentrated in their upper arm areas, and gathered irregularly to the shoulder areas of the neckline and at lower edge to drawn thread work edging, similar to neckline. The skirt is made up of three sections - two approximately 95.5 cm wide and one 46.5 cm wide; gauged to waistband; trimmed with three areas (not insertions) of drawn thread work in an elaborate multi-serpentine design which gives the appearance of hairpin lace - top area is 1.8 cm wide, middle 3.3 cm and lower 3.0 cm. Between these areas are two areas of spaced, small, horizontal tucks: upper area has four tucks, the lower has five; wide hem; basting thread still in place at top of waistband; threads still in evidence on bodice; evidence of threads, stitching and folds in skirt near waistband. Waistband was perhaps concealed with a sash. Drawn thread work skilfully done (note how seam allowance threads have been incorporated). Dress made for the child of Alexander Gibson, one of Eastern Canada's leading industrialists who built the community of Marysville, where he owned and operated the largest cotton mill in Canada at that time.