Evening cape

Liberty & Co.

1900–1909 · silk · Costume Institute

Liberty & Co. founded in London in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843-1917) as a retailer specializing in goods from the Orient and Far East, became strongly influenced by the Aesthetic Movement, and later, was associated with the Art Nouveau style. The retailer was so closely identified with the latter that the term for that sinuous, curvilinear design was called "stile Liberty" in Italy. Known for their luxurious fabrics and non-Western design adaptations, here Liberty combines a fine cream and pink slipper satin in a burnoose-style cape. The scrolling floral and leaf embroidery is a fine example of their interpretation of the Art Nouveau style.

Artist

Liberty & Co.

Date

1900–1909

Medium

silk

Culture

British

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. Robert G. Olmsted and Constable MacCracken, 1969