The magnificent silk brocade dress was brought from England to Australia and passed down through five generations of the one family. It is the oldest dress in the National Museum’s collection.
Cheryl Crilly, curator:
Beginning in the 1730s the story of this dress — its design and construction, how it was worn, altered, cherished and preserved — has been shaped by a long line of women.
The dress holds stories of London’s weaving and textile industry, colonial migration, pastoralism at Springfield sheep station near Goulburn and Sydney’s social life.
Part of the Springfield–Faithfull Family collection, the dress was donated to the Museum in 2005 by Jim and Pamela Maple-Brown and the late Diana Boyd, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program.
In our collection
Explore more on the Springfield–Faithfull family collection