The department of costume and textiles houses an encyclopedic collection of more than fifty thousand objects, representing more than one hundred cultures and two thousand years of human creativity in the textile arts. The collection is almost equally balanced between textiles and dress and is recognized worldwide for its depth and breadth. The collection encompasses a broad range of clothing, textiles, and accessories from pre-Columbian Latin America to contemporary couture. Particularly well represented are the European Renaissance (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) and European and American textiles, accessories and fashionable dress for men, women, and children (eighteenth through twentieth centuries). The department also has outstanding collections of Islamic, South and Southeast Asian ,and Far Eastern material, including two major Iranian sixteenth-century carpets, The Ardabil and The Coronation; Indonesian textiles; and significant Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, and Korean holdings. European, Chinese, and Japanese ecclesiastical vestments form an important segment of the collection. Also of note are the collections of quilts, samplers, tapestries, embroideries, lace, Hollywood costume, couture clothing, and California designers. The Costume and Textiles department was officially established on October 1, 1953 at the Museum of Science, History and Art (now the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County). This brought together in a single department the collection of costumes that were part of the History division as well as the tapestries, Chinese textiles, and American quilts and coverlets in the Decorative Arts department. Early donors included William Randolph Hearst, J. Paul Getty, Bella, Carlotta and Paul Mabury, Alice Schott, and Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch. The Costume Council, the department's support group, was formed in 1954, and the continuing support of the council has been invaluable in the building of the collection. In 1965 the department moved to the newly created Los Angeles County Museum of Art. With the generous support of the Costume Council - along with major donors including Anna Bing Arnold, Dorothy Collins Brown, Mrs. Harry Lenart, Joan Palevsky, Inger McCabe Elliott, and many other individuals - the collection has grown to more than 25,000 objects, including approximately 6,000 textiles. The collection is encyclopedic, ranging from ancient Peruvian mantles to European tapestries, from 100 B.C. to the present. With the continued support of the council and concerned individuals, the department is poised to begin its next fifty years, adding further treasures to its already stellar holdings.
The Doris Stein Research Center for Costume and Textiles 323-857-6085 e-mail: dsc@lacma.org The Doris Stein Research Center is a unique resource of the Costume and Textile department which houses the study collection, archives, library, and works on paper (such as designers’ sketches, drawings, and fashion plates). Among the center’s holdings are rare books and manuscripts from as early as the sixteenth century relevant to the study of textiles and dress. The center also maintains several important archives of individual designers (e.g. James Galanos and John P. John) as well as those on men’s clothing, patterns, quilts, and historic textiles. The center is open by appointment only.

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Peru, Paracas
Mantle, 200 BCE - 200 CE
Camelid fiber; plain weave with stemstitch and loop stitch embroidery
98 1/4 x 57 1/4 in. (249.56 x 145.42 cm)
67.4
Los Angeles County Fund
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Like the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese, pre-Columbian peoples interred their dead with furnishings for the afterlife. In coastal Peru's dry climate ancient textiles have survived in remarkable numbers, emerging from their long darkness with astonishing freshness of color. Some date to two thousand years before Spanish contact.

Mantles, turbans, ponchos, shirts, and belts were wrapped in as many as four layers around the body to form a conical mummy bundle; a single burial might include as many as twenty pieces of clothing. This mantle, a precious early example of the weaver's craft, was found in the necropolis at Paracas on the south coast of Peru. Its vivid coloration is typical, as is its composition of native alpaca wool woven on cotton warps.

Weaving in Peru goes back to about 2000 b.c. and displays considerable sophistication and technical expertise. This mantle is composed of two longitudinal pieces and the borders, which have been sewn together and then embroidered with stitches, such as stem and buttonhole, still used today in hand sewing.

The design includes motifs typical of Paracas textiles: reversed interlocking figures, often with frontal heads, and composite animals. Here the double-headed serpent of the borders has a cat's head; another feline creature provides a secondary motif. These catlike creatures are probably jaguars, shamanic animals of ancient mythological lineage and a frequently used motif in pre-Columbian textiles.

Great garden builders as well as warriors, certain Persian rulers were known to have had outstanding plant collections, particularly of the exotic tulip. They often commissioned arts that featured images of the flowers they grew and prized. As a result Persian manuscripts and textiles reveal a catalogue of Near Eastern plants; the lost gardens of Safavid Iran have been reconstructed in part from these works.

Carnations or pinks, the large upright standards of the iris, and the cupped petals of tulips are identifiable in this textile. This particular design is typical of Persian art of the second half of the seventeenth century. Scholars have suggested that it was influenced by the work of Shafi-i-Abbasi, a court painter who visited Mughal India and was inspired there by court interest in botanical illustration. He produced a number of naturalistic drawings for textiles, which seem to have been widely influential in Iran.

Although the flower forms are natural, there is an element of artifice and restraint in the repeating vine pattern, which sprouts such disparate blooms, and the birds, which perch at such regular intervals. This balance between abstraction and naturalism was a permissible way to deal with Muslim theological opposition to the depiction of living forms.

The weaving of this brocaded compound twill is exceptional in its fineness and detail. Prized in the Near East and coveted in the West, these fabrics found their way into European royal collections and churches in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Among the world's most famous artifacts, the Ardabil carpet and its mate in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, are products of the great flowering of the arts, particularly those of textile and the book, under the Safavid rulers of Iran. The site of Ardabil in northwest Iran was sacred to these Shiite rulers; tradition holds that both carpets were presented to the shrine there as royal gifts, and current scholarship confirms this. Magnificent gifts to this shrine—an entire library of sacred and secular Islamic texts, a treasure of Ming dynasty porcelain, as well as lamps, silk brocades, and candlesticks—confirm the esteem in which these princes held it.

Both versions of the carpet are signed and dated early in the reign of Shah Tahmasp I, a renowned patron of the arts, and were probably made in Tabriz, a site of royal textile manufacturing (r. 1524 - 1578). This carpet contains 35,000,000 knots and probably took eight to ten craftsmen more than three years to complete.

The carpet's subtle design, dominated by a large central medallion, is typical of Tabriz work. The overall scheme seems largely abstract, but individual motifs have figural sources. Sixteen ogival shapes surround the central sunburst medallion, and a pair of mosque lamps in the vertical axis flank the design. The undulating border forms derive from Chinese cloud-band motifs. Over the shimmering indigo surface is a meticulously balanced, if botanically improbable, meander of blossom-laden vines. The blossoms are a typical Sasanian lotus palmette crossed with a Chinese peony, some in full bloom and others barely emerging from buds. At the center of the great medallion is a roundel shaped like a geometrical pool of the kind that still exists in the Islamic gardens of the Alhambra in Spain. Such pools were essential to both the design and concept of Persian gardens, an art form that evoked the pleasures of paradise for the Muslim believer.

Identical inscriptions are woven into each of the carpets: "Except for thy haven, there is no refuge for me in this world: / Other than here, there is no place for my head. / Work of a servant of the court, Maqsud of Kashan, 946." This evocation of a heavenly refuge is particularly appropriate for a work of art that recalls the abundance and fertility of the garden, the most powerful symbol of physical and spiritual peace in the Muslim world.

This dalmatic is part of a rare complete set of ecclesiastical vestments surviving the troubled period of the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth-century Holland. Its preservation and that of its companion pieces—today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art—are of special interest because the robes share a linked symbolism and can be dated to 1570 from an inscription on one of the Metropolitan garments.

"We are bent, not broken by the waves", reads the motto woven on the banderoles of the design, a particularly appropriate sentiment for Dutch Catholics. From the 1560s they had endured Protestant hostility against the church and its clergy, a situation prevailing in Utrecht until 1580, when Roman Catholic public worship was finally suppressed.

This robe bears the coats of arms of the Van Der Geer and Van Culenborch families of Utrecht, probably confirming that the set was commissioned for use in a private chapel, a timely decision in light of events. The biblical imagery is also fitting; the bulrushes rising above the waves allude both to the inscription and to Moses, who led the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt.

This message of salvation has been interpreted with technical virtuosity. The dalmatic is done in a flat tapestry weave, but its design imitates piled Italian velvets. The fabric panels also include embroidery accentuating details of the design, suggesting that this unusual combination of techniques was an effort to achieve a richness of surface normally associated with more costly imported textiles.

This elaborate altar frontal was made for the church of Valletta dedicated to John the Baptist on the island of Malta. The frontal bears three large medallions with scenes from the saint's life. At right, John is born, a scene combining, with typical Renaissance sensibility, homely detail with spiritual significance: John's mother, St. Elizabeth, is attended by angels and by women who offer her sweetmeats. At center, Christ is baptized by John in the Jordan River. At left, John reproves King Herod, whose daughter, Salome, will later take revenge by demanding the saint's head, one of the New Testament’s most famous episodes.

These primary scenes, framed by gemstones set in the borders, are surrounded by five smaller medallions. Four have iconic themes, but the lower right depicts a Maltese bishop blessing the donors of this altar frontal, emphasizing the fact that it was made for a particular chapel. It is not certain that the altar frontal was actually made in Malta; it may have been commissioned in Italy or even Spain in order to obtain the skills of a professional embroidery workshop equal to the elaborate task.

The frontal is embroidered in gold and silk threads on a red silk velvet ground. Its scrolls and floral motifs recall the larger vocabulary of Renaissance architectural ornament, but smaller details of the background design are symbolically appropriate to the altar and the celebration of the mass. For example, the bunches of grapes near the lower border would suggest to a Renaissance viewer not only the sensuous beauty of God's bounty but also the wine of the Eucharist and Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

The Buddhist priest's robe, or kesa, is usually made up of seven to twenty-five narrow panels (jo) composed of patchwork squares and assembled into a large, flat rectangle, which, somewhat like a toga, drapes under the left arm and fastens by two corners on the right shoulder. According to legend, its original shape and composition derive from the fine gold kesa that Buddha's mother made for him. Upon Buddha's death a devout disciple carried the kesa to a mountain and there immured himself to await the coming of the future Buddha Maitreya and the end of the world.

The kesa became the prescribed garment for priests. Obeying vows of poverty, they made these robes from donated pieces of old cloth and rags. Eventually the cloaks acquired the status of investiture and were handed down from master to disciple as symbols of priestly descent and authority. As Buddhist ceremonial observance became more complex and hieratic, the patchwork kesa, composed of finer and finer fragments, grew more luxurious.

This seven-jo kesa minimizes the patchwork effect because it was apparently cut from one garment, a Noh robe, and thus retains a strong visual unity. It is patterned with chrysanthemums brocaded on a silk ground; the long floats of silk give the petals their shimmering appearance. Some of the blossoms are outlined in gold. The Four Directional Guardians of Buddhist cosmology are symbolized by the traditional small squares (shitenno) appearing in the kesa's four corners.

Elements of the allegorical vocabulary of Chinese ceremonial garb appear in this imperial hunting cloak, which is ornamented with some of the many traditional sacred Buddhist symbols that pervade Chinese art.

The body of the cloak is a silk tapestry fabric woven in the kesi technique. Over its ground of yellow, a color the Manchu rulers reserved for their sole use, twines a graceful, naturalistic network of many-colored lotuses, stems, and leaves. The religious and allegorical allusions of the design begin in the high collarband, where an angular interlace pattern signifies the endless knot, a symbol for Buddha, and the circular rebus incorporates characters for happiness and long life.

Two red front panels depict paired symbols (top to bottom): the wheel of the law, indicating life's endless cycle, and the conch shell, whose sound summons all to worship; the umbrella of state, for incorruptibility, and the canopy of the monarch, who shelters all living things; the sacred vase, containing the water of life, and the tree peony, for summer and prosperity; the endless knot and the paired fish, a rebus for abundance. All are linked by scrolling cloud banderoles. The wide hem border contains still more Buddhist references: waves for the cosmos, coral branches signifying riches, a mountain at the center back for the earth, flanked by castanets symbolizing good fortune.

The cape not only depicts emblems of virtue but also partakes of their power. In donning such a robe, the imperial person became invested with power in a complex interaction of magic, ritual, authority, and responsibility.

Decorated ceremonial gloves were widely understood symbols of nobility and prestige in Jacobean England (1603–25). The right to wear them, a prerogative of the leisured classes, was eventually protected by sumptuary laws. James I received gifts of gloves from both Oxford and Cambridge authorities when he visited those institutions in the early 1600s. Gloves also served as pledges, challenges to combat, and other signs of status, such as the right to own a hawk.

These splendid gloves originally belonged to Thomas, first Lord Fairfax (1560–1640). Their design and construction disclose their use as courtly attire. The buff leather of the glove hand, a particularly soft goatskin called castor, is plain, but the elaborately decorated cream satin cuffs, or gauntlets, render them impractical for any but ceremonial use. The tabbed cuffs are decorated with colorful patterns of flowers, scrolls, and birds in gold and silk thread embroidery, and gilt lace edging.

Fundamental changes in political and court life hastened the disappearance of such elaborate accessories. Fashions at Charles I's court (1625–49) were much less extravagant than those of Jacobean times, and decorated gloves began to seem dated. The Civil War and Commonwealth years (1642–60), when apparel symbolizing royal favor became dangerous to display, enforced a Puritan-style simplicity in manners and fashion. Even after the Restoration in 1660, English courtly apparel never again attained levels of Jacobean excess.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the republic of Venice was the hub of Europe's trade with the East and a dominant power in the Mediterranean. The collaboration of bankers, merchants, and fine craftsmen had made the city the center for a number of luxury trades, among them the manufacture of silk and fine lace. Lace making in Venice maintained its high quality into the seventeenth century, even after the industry, challenged by competition in France and Spain, had declined in the rest of Italy. In Venice it was sustained by wealthy patrons and the strength of the lace-makers guilds.

In buratto work, darning stitches are worked with a needle on fine gauze or net (called lacis) to create the pattern. A form of counted canvas embroidery, it is finer, looser, and more flexible than needlepoint. Buratto was used as border trim on clothing and various draperies. Stitched onto velvet, the gauze backing would sink into the pile and disappear from view, leaving the impression that the embroidered pattern was floating on the surface of the fabric.

Bright colors and a vase-and-niche motif reveal a strong Turkish influence in the ten repeats of pattern in this length of buratto. It is still stitched to its original backing of blue paper, which protected the gauze from distortion when handled or rolled.

Wealthy and fashionable ladies from the 1740s to just before the French Revolution wore as their daily attire either the loosely pleated French gown or "sack," the tightly fitted English gown, or robe à la polonaise, with its hitched-up overskirt.

The pink color of this dress and its petticoat is typical of the late eighteenth century. The gown features a skirt shorter than its petticoat; buttons and braid hold the overskirt in draped swags at the back. This abundant display of two layers of fabric attested the wearer's wealth; at the same time her dressmaker's skill would have been judged at least in part by her ability to cut the narrow lengths of fabric without waste.

Making such a dress required enormous patience and ability. Each hand-sewn seam has about eight stitches to the inch, and the pinked edges of the ruching were probably done by a specialist using shears designed for the purpose. Despite this labor-intensive procedure, the chief expense by far would have been the very costly fabrics.

A vogue for high-piled hairstyles trimmed with ribbons and flowers reached its peak in the 1780s, contemporary with this gown. The combination of a bulky coiffure and a stilted gait resulting from the reintroduction of high heels in the 1770s produced a body shape and stance that designers exaggerated in the robe à la polonaise. Its heavy flounces balanced the elaborate hairstyle, achieving a total effect of a fashionable, if costly, immobility.

An acient and wide spread art form, quilting was first a utilitarian act. As a cooperative task, it gave women in small communities a respite from their frequently solitary labors. Their quilts constitute a valued legacy to the present, and in recent years the American quilt has been sought by enthusiasts and museums that recognize the aesthetic merits of its complex geometric patterns and arresting colors.

This variant of the Log Cabin pattern quilt, with its strips set diagonally across the corners of each center square, ends angled and lapped, sets up a lively visual counterpoint. The traditional alternation of light and dark segments in each component square creates spiny pineapple shapes. They advance and retreat, sometimes setting up a visual illusion of wildly spinning, spiky wheels. The center squares of Log Cabin blocks are traditionally red, although other colors are not uncommon. Here they are a mosaic of red, blue, and black triangles.

The Log Cabin square is an extremely versatile quilt-building unit with a pleasing architectural strength. The names of its variant patterns reveal metaphors of their origins: Court House Steps, Barn Raising, Running Furrow, Light and Dark.