Dress

In the pictureA sleeveless long dress dressed on a mannequin. The upper part is plain cream linen, and a pair of ties is knotted at the front neck opening, which is slit down to the chest. The armholes fall straight, just as the fabric was cut. On both sides of the chest are round yellowish stains, and below them a number written in ink is faintly visible. From the knee down to the hem, a ground of red and dark navy and green is densely filled with teardrops, squares and round motifs in gold thread, and the upper edge of the embroidered band is stepped like sawteeth. The embroidery takes up nearly half the length of the garment.

BackgroundAccording to the record, the materials are linen, silk and metal, the back length is 142.2 cm, and the date is the fourth quarter of the 19th century. A sleeveless linen dress embroidered only at the hem is a form seen in women's dress of Greece and the Balkans; with a vest or overgarment layered on top, only the hem embroidery shows. The collection record, however, does not state the region. The plain top and richly worked bottom show that this was a garment meant to be layered. Mrs. August Belmont gave it to the Brooklyn Museum in 1948, and it was transferred to the Met in 2009. Its accession number is 2009.300.123.

Puzzle tipTop and bottom divide clearly into cream and embroidery, so start by joining the sawtooth pieces along the boundary in a single row. The same motifs repeat across the embroidered area, so work downward using the rows of gold teardrops as a guide. The hem is a curve that flares slightly outward, so the pieces at either end show where they belong. In the cream area, the neck opening and ties and the two stains on the chest are the clues. Fill in the gray background last. 48 pieces is about right.