Waistcoat

An unusual braid of Indian painted and tamboured (chain stitched with a hook instead of a needle) cotton in two widths has provided the inspiration for the embroidery of this waistcoat. The wider braid used on the pocket flaps and along the front and lower edge, has a pattern of painted wavy lines with floral sprigs, against a ground of dots. The lines and flowers have been outlined in tamboured silver thread. Around the pockets can be found a narrower braid in the same colours, but of slightly different pattern.

The double meanders of the braid have been copied in the decoration of the waistcoat front, tamboured in salmon-pink silk and silver threads. The floral motifs have also been copied, not by painting, but filled with coloured silk tambouring. The differences in technique and colours indicate that more than one hand was involved in the creation of the waistcoat, although the overall effect is one of harmony and homogeneity.