NarrynA

Our Collections

Costume & Textile Collection

Narryna’s collection of 19th and early 20th century costume and dress has been identified as nationally significant and has received funding through the National Library of Australia’s Community Grants Program. The collection includes approximately 450 gowns and over 1,000 accessories. This rare collection includes: men’s dress items, working clothes, underwear and a range of support materials including 19th century fashion magazines.

Please note: Due to the age and fragility of costumes in our collection, Narryna’s costume collection is not always on display. Any upcoming costume exhibitions will be advertised on the ‘Exhibitions’ page of this website.

Along with our costume collection, Narryna also has a rich collection of textiles of which the most interesting is the collection of samplers through which young girls, aged 7-10, demonstrated the needlework skills they would use in dressmaking and maintaining the household’s linen.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Day dress c. 1842

A cotton day dress worn by Mrs Sarah Butler (1787-1870). Sarah was the wife of lawyer and pastoralist, Gamaliel Butler (1783-1852) and lived at Stowell, a house neighbouring Narryna. In 1856-57 her son, Charles Butler, rented Narryna to be near to his mother. According to family oral history, the dress was worn by Sarah on her arrival in Van Diemen’s Land in July 1824. This sense of the dress’s date may have related to the roller-printed cotton’s ‘Regency stripe’ pattern. The cut of the dress, however, suggests c. 1842. 

The majority of costume surviving from the early 19th century relates to formal occasions. This item is a remarkable survival as a cotton dress, almost certainly home-made for wearing at home. The fabric has been pieced to use all available remnants and the dress has been repaired over time. The dress was worn by Sarah’s descendants in early 20th century costume tableaux, indicative of the Butler family’s sense of its role in Hobart’s foundation. 

Donated by Mrs. W. M. Hood (née Patricia. E. Butler), Sandy Bay, great-great-granddaughter of the wearer. Narryna Heritage Museum, NHM 1632

Child's half-mourning dress

Child's half-mourning purple taffeta dress, probably home-made and showing the influence of the Aesthetic Movement. The bell sleeves are open below the shoulder suggestive of academic wear. The top seams are ornamented with ribbon and there is a tied ribbon at the collar. The scalloped hem reveals a continuous lace border set against a panel of purple taffeta sewn to the underskirt.

Donated by Rose R.S. per Mrs. Pat Macrae nee Perkins, Hobart

Boy’s shot silk dress c 1830

Boy’s ecru coloured short shot* silk afternoon dress, with ruched and pleated bodice. Decorative piping on seams and puffed sleeves. Hooks & eyes opening at back. Decorative hooks are in the shape of a hand.

*Shot silk is a fabric made up of silk woven from warp and weft yarns of two or more colours producing an iridescent appearance. 

From the Estate of Miss Dora Hookey, per Miss T Cleminshaw 

Silk taffeta dress c 1880

Girl’s bronze striped silk taffeta afternoon dress with embroidered silk inserts on bodice and skirt. Ruched and pleated skirt with lace edged panels over a high bustle.

Silk dress   c 1895

Mourning single-piece dress c. 1895 in damask-woven silk crape and featuring a high ‘military’ collar. Pleated decoration covers the wide shoulders like epaulettes. The outer edges of the sleeves are ruched resulting in the gathering of fabric for the length of the sleeves. Front-fastening with hook and eyelets concealed within one of a row of vertical seams set between applied beadwork panels. For dating see E. Scandrett, Breeches and Bustles, Lilyvale Victoria, 1978 pp. 133-137.

Owned by Mrs Roberts of Beaumaris, Hobart, donated by her granddaughter, Mrs D. Garcia.

Dress for a garden party c. 1875 

Maker’s label of ‘Wright, Court Dress, Bond Street [London]’

A summer dress for a woman with a statuesque figure. The dress’s cream or ecru muslin is interwoven with a blue sateen stripe. In a French Second Empire emulation of Louis XVI styles, the pointed bodice with half-length sleeves is trimmed with rouching and bows.  

Donated by Miss Violet Mace (1890-1968), Narryna Heritage Museum, NHM 0020

Woman's half-mourning day dress c. 1870

Jacket and skirt ensemble made from violet taffeta woven with a fine black check. The front-fastening jacket is trimmed with black braid incorporating glass or jet beads. The skirt is ornamented with an applied fringe and two flounces. The base of the skirt is bound with black cotton, possibly to not show the dirt. The ensemble is fully lined with glazed cotton, machine chain stitched. The shawl is separate.

Donated by Rose R.S. per Mrs. Pat Macrae nee Perkins, Hobart

Boy’s Cotton twill dress  c 1870

Child’s dress (boy’s ) of white cotton twill with black braid trim.  Wide neck with Broderie anglaise trim. Short sleeves, curved lower edge, piped armhole. Skirt straight front, pleated at back, self bias frill at hem. Back opening with brass hooks. Added band at waist to lengthen bodice. 

Donated by Miss Violet Mace, Swansea  

Velvet cape c 1901

Child’s brown velvet cape with synthetic braid edging and wide collar forming double cape.

Donated by Miss L S Clemes,  Lindisfarne

Spencer (lady’s jacket), cream cotton c. late 1830s

Donated by the Walker family, Hobart

Boy’s cotton tunic c 1820-1850

Boy’s black dress of black glazed cotton, probably home-made as evident from the soft, random pleats of the bodice and skirt. The low shoulder line and puff sleeves reflect the early 19th century Romantic Movement. A single, large pocket has been inserted to the lower right part of the skirt to allow the boy some comfort at a time of grief. Hook and eyelets to the back.

Donated by Miss J M Mitchell,  ‘worn by the son of Mrs W F Mitchell of Carrick

Quaker dresses c. 1840-45

Fawn silk day dress

Chocolate brown silk day dress

The Walker family costume collection is a truly rare and significant record of early Australian dress as seen through a Quaker prism. George Washington Walker, Sarah Benson Walker and eight of their ten children lived at Narryna in 1852-54. Members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) adhered to a design philosophy that valued simplicity. Quaker women’s dress used plain fabrics in subdued colours and avoided personal adornment such as ruffles, lace and other forms of ornamentation. Quaker families such as the Walkers and Mathers were drapers, hence the high quality and durability of the fabrics used, with exquisite needlework. These dresses date from c. 1840, although Quaker women used the same patterns through to c. 1915.

Donation by the Walker family underway through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program

Green silk wedding dress c. 1880

Blue/ green silk taffeta wedding dress.  The front panel is outlined with lace and stretches from the shoulder to below the knee.  At this point the skirt has three bands of fringing, a self pleat and then fringing.  The sleeve is full length and has heavy lace edging on both sides of the cuff.  At the waistline on the left hand side is a small watch pocket and there is another large lace ribbon and flower trimmed pocket on the left side of the skirt.  The back has a beautiful ornate bustle.  There is a slight train with a band of fringing and the hem is edged with self pleating.  The dress is lined with white glazed cotton. 

Donated by Miss Cecily McKinley, Sandy Bay

Black satin dress c.1900

Black satin dress c.1900 with machine-embroidered net collar, cuffs and bustle cover. The collar shows the influence of Aestheticism in being asymmetrical and trimmed with passementrie-like bobbles. Machine lace inner panel to the v-neck rising to a high circular collar. Integral belt.

From the Estate of Miss Overell per Miss Arundell, Brisbane

Cotton lawn dress c 1860

White cotton lawn dress. Very fine feather stitch inserted in front bodice with brown and white braid trim. Broderie anglaise frill at neck, also braided. Drawstring neck and waist. Open centre back. Single button.  Sleeve gathered to shoulder. Trim similar to neck. Gathered skirt. Chain stitched tucks with panel of braid and eyelet work. 

Quaker Bonnet c. 1840-45

This silk, cotton and buckram bonnet made to a standard pattern is a rare survivor and testimony to Quaker values of simplicity. They are likely to have been made at home by women of the Walker family. Sarah Benson Walker (née Mather, 1812-1893) wears a similar ensemble in a photograph by John Bishop-Osborne, c. 1885: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/1616/3/sarah_benson_walker2.jpg  In keeping with the value Quakers placed on simplicity, Sarah continues to wear clothes of the same cut as she wore forty years earlier. 

Donated by the Walker Family, Hobart

Rose satin evening dress c 1880

Figured rose satin two-piece evening / dinner dress trimmed with rose satin. Jacket has metal buttons and is pointed back and front and the skirt is trimmed with pleated material and has a large bustle.