“An exquisite pair of yellow silk garters dating to about 1780. These would have probably been wedding garters.”
The painted design is delightful showing two love birds on a green nest on a sky blue oval ground edged in a raised gold border stitch. To left and right are blousy pink roses green leaves and blue forget me nots. The colours are pretty and still fresh, there is no rubbing of the painted design… It is stable and beautifully executed.
They may have been a gift from the groom to his bride…
The garters have an elasticated section, as with the ‘Marie Antoinette Garters‘, fine brass springs are encased in silk for comfort. instead of having ribbon ties, these garters have fastenings of embossed, base silver tone metal.
These garters may have been worn just below the knee as they are quite small. However, most people were smaller in those times, or it may have been a young girl getting married.
Measurements: Length 11″, width just under 1 1/2″
Lined and edged with gold coloured silk, with the front spring casing in a contrasting colour
The garters are in excellent condition, and are worthy of a place in an advanced costume collection or museum. It is rare to find a pair in such good condition. All beautifully hand stitched of course. The garters sold in March 2015 for $750 USD / £476 GBP
I would like to thank Diane at Antique textiles for allowing us to use these photos and helping us with such a detailed description…
