Charles Frederick Worth - Garment Fabric, about 1885-1891

Designed by Charles Frederick Worth (Bourne, Lincolnshire, 1825 - 1895, Paris)

Garment Fabric, about 1885-1891

Silk: compound satin with supplementary wefts of silver, 134.6 x 271.8 cm (53 x 107 in.)

Commentary

Isabella reinforced and elaborated on the themes in Titian's painting The Rape of Europa with her installation. This fragment (now a reproduction) of a Charles Frederick Worth-designed gown—which Isabella wore to the 1891 Myopia Hunt Club Ball in South Hamilton, Massachusetts—extends the impression of a shimmering sea out of the painting and into the room. Each stylized tassel of its woven pattern resembles the bull's bushy tail, which playfully grazes a cupid's head.