Cape, woman's

This mid-calf length cape with shawl collar, is made from cream cashmere wool, and has been hand embroidered in black cotton.It fastens at the neck with a pair of short lengths of cream, black-embroidered wool, each with a hand-made button hole at each end. These fasten to the cape via three (originally four; one button is missing) self covered, embroidered buttons.

The embroidery is executed in thick black cotton thread directly on the cashmere, and corresponds to the shape of the cloak, indicating that the embroidery was worked specifically for this garment, rather than the cape being cut from embroidered cloth. The style and quality of the embroidery indicates that it was probably made by a Kashmiri shawl embroiderer for an English client.

The design is an allover pattern comprising stylized carnations, iris and other Indian style flora, with a more heavily embroidered border extending around the lower edge of the cape and up each centre front edge.

The cape is fully lined in black silk and features a ruched silk border at the edges. The collar is lined with a [synthetic] Dupion style fabric which appears to have been applied at a later date, probably at the time that obvious alteration to the collar occurred.