Day Dress and Pelerine, 1845–50 American Brown and blue compound weave; L. at center back of cape 11 in. (27.9 cm); L. at center back of bodice 42 in. (106.7 cm); L. at center back of skirt 18 1/2 in. (47 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gift of Jessie Leonard Hill, Charles R. Leonard, and Laura Leonard Ault, 1978 (1978.477.1a-c)		Comtesse Charles d'Agoult, née Marie de Flavigny, and Her Daughter Claire d'Agoult
The invention of the Jacquard loom in 1801 revolutionized the production of elaborately patterned textiles. The method of manipulating pattern during weaving, formerly manual, was now mechanized. As a result, textiles with sophisticated woven patterns, such as the one in this dress, were produced in increasing variety and greater abundance over the course of the nineteenth century. Back

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