Object Highlight: Manteau de Cour from Centraal Museum Utrecht

In Object Highlight a partner in Europeana Fashion introduces a unique fashion or costume object in its collection. This week a precious early 19th century court train from the collection of Centraal Museum Utrecht.

 

This lavender-coloured Manteau de Cour of moire silk is the only example in the Netherlands to date of a court train from the  period during which the Netherlands were under the French rule of the Bonaparte’s.

The embroidered border with ivory-coloured chenille and pearl-coloured beads is remarkably broad, measuring 26 cm at its widest point. This may point to the garment’s royal origins, as the Cérémonial de l’Empire Français from 1805 states that all ladies granted access to the court wear a garment of the same form as that of the Empress and that, if the ladies choose to have an embroidered border, this may not exceed one decimetre in width.

Discover this court train in the Centraal Museum collection or explore the imperial style of the Bonaparte’s in a virtual visit to Château de Malmaison, a former residence of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Written by Ninke Bloemberg

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