Shirt

Elizabeth Wild Hitchings

1816–17 · linen · Costume Institute

This shirt was created, from the linen fiber to the finished garment, by the donor's great-grandmother, Elizabeth Wild Hitchings, for her husband Benjamin Hitchings, a sea captain, in 1816. It was common practice for a wife or servant to hand stitch family members' shirts prior to the mid-19th century, but rarely was such handiwork recorded, making this case rare and intriguing. In addition, its elegant stitching makes it a perfect example of the familial care taken in sewing prior to the common possession and use of the sewing machine.

Artist

Elizabeth Wild Hitchings

Date

1816–17

Medium

linen

Culture

American

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Benjamin Hitchings, 1944