Womens riding waistcoat owned by the D'Arcy family
Object No. 2019/98/2
Horse riding and the associated sport of hunting and shooting was a leisure pursuit for the wealthy, landed gentry. Riding habits followed the prevailing fashions and, in turn, influenced everyday dress. This woman's riding waistcoat follows the tightly corseted contours of bodices in the 1880s with its vertical seaming. Faced in silk satin and lined with perforated chamois for ventilation and ease, the waistcoat was both stylish and practical to wear under the equally tight riding coat. This is one of 24 objects donated to the Museum, which belonged to the D'Arcy family, Irish landed gentry whose roots can be traced to the 11th Century Norman conquest of England, and passed down to Major Michael D'Arcy and then to his wife, Mrs Jane D'Arcy, Canberra. Roger Leong, Senior Curator, 2019
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Summary
Object Statement
Riding waistcoat, womens, silk / leather / shell, maker unknown, possibly made in Ireland, c. 1888, owned by the D'Arcy family of Dublin and Westmeath, Ireland, since c. 1888
Physical Description
Brown silk satin women's riding waistcoat, possibly made in Ireland c. 1888. With a perforated chamois lining, fastening down centre front with six shell buttons, machine top-stitched front and back 'Princess' seams.
HISTORY
Notes
This waistcoat is one of 24 objects donated to the Museum which belonged to the D'Arcy family, Irish landed gentry whose roots can be traced to the 11th Century Norman conquest of England. Most items came from the inheritance of three unmarried D'Arcy sisters: Martha Emily (d. 1912), Frances Louisa (d. 1908) and Phoebe Sophia (d. 1865). The items were in turn inherited by their brother John Charles D'Arcy whose wife Henrietta Ann also contributed some of her own clothes, which were then passed onto their son the Reverend Charles Frederick D'Arcy (d. 1938), former Archbishop of Armagh, and his wife Harriet. They then passed to Captain John Conyers D'Arcy (d. 1966) and his wife Noel (d. 1968), and onto their son, Major Michael D'Arcy (d. 2013), whose wife Jane D'Arcy donated the garments to MAAS in 2019 in memory of her husband. Major Michael and Mrs Jane D'Arcy have lived and worked, together or individually, in Turkey, India, Egypt, Palestine, Cyprus, England, Malaya, East Africa, Aden, Jamaica, Ceylon, South Africa and Australia. In 1965, Major D'Arcy resigned from the British Army, joined the Australian Army and subsequently entered the Public Service in Canberra in 1977, retiring in 1987. Roger Leong, Senior Curator with Eileen Lim, Curatorial Volunteer, 2019
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Jane D’Arcy in memory of her husband Michael D’Arcy (1922-2013), 2019
Acquisition Date
18 November 2019
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