Costume
A long purple velvet coat trimmed with fur and rows of knotted gold-thread buttons: a late 19th-century costume modeled on Eastern European noble dress. Full commentary ↓
Couldn't load the puzzle image.
Turn on piece outlines to see piece positions on this picture too
Drag the pieces into place · When zoomed in, drag an empty spot to move around
You can also play with a keyboard — Tab to the board, thenSpace pick a piece, Arrow keys move it (with Shift for small steps),Esc deselect, R rotate a piece (Shift+R the other way)
Costume is a textile by an unknown maker (1850–1900) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 110.5 cm.
In the pictureA long velvet coat dressed on a mannequin. The deep purple velvet is edged with brown fur at the neckline, front opening, cuffs and hem, and six rows of knotted gold-thread buttons run across the chest. There is gold-thread embroidery on both sides of the hem, and a red lining shows below.
BackgroundThe combination of velvet, fur and knotted buttons comes from the traditional ceremonial dress of the Polish, Hungarian and Russian nobility, and in late 19th-century Europe such garments were also made as costumes for masquerade balls or the stage. The materials list includes silk, fur, cotton, linen, wool, leather and metallic thread, which shows that its various parts were each made of different materials.
Puzzle tipThe purple velvet, brown fur and gold buttons separate by color. Outline the coat with the fur trim pieces, line up the gold button pieces across the chest, then fill in the velvet pieces by the direction of the sheen. 48 or 100 pieces is about right.
- Classification
- Main dress-Menswear
- Medium
- silk, fur, cotton, linen, wool, leather, metallic thread
- Dimensions
- 110.5 cm
- Credit line
- Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1977
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Five Embroidered Eastern European Garments, From Leather Coat to Beaded Blouse
From a fur-trimmed, aristocratic-style overcoat to a blouse embroidered with glass beads. Five embroidered Eastern European garments, each from a different country and in different materials, gathered in one place.
Puzzles to try next
More European Embroidery & Costume puzzles· Stories and puzzle tips