Patchwork coat

This crazy patchwork coat was made by Clara Emily Williams (1887 - 1975, nee Ironside) from an array of plain, corded, printed and devore velvets. It is lined with a blue georgette floral print, and  two different gold coloured damasks, one featuring a floral pattern, the other a geometric pattern in gold and brown.

Clara Williams was born in New South Wales, Australia and moved to New Zealand following her marriage to Alexander James Williams, a New Zealander from Dunedin, in 1906. The couple settled on a farm in Owaka, the isolation of which came as a shock to Clara who had been living in Sydney. The couple had four girls and one boy between 1908 and 1924.  Clara is remembered by her descendants as someone who spent a lot of her time undertaking needlework.

The coat was cherished as an heirloom by her daughter, Edith, who passed it on to her daughter who passed it on to her daughter, donor Carolyn Leatherby. The coat is remembered as being worn in a production of the musical Joseph and the Technicolour Coat in the 1970s, which was first performed in London 1968, and as family dress-ups.