Images(2)

Dress

Date1835-1840

OriginAmerica, Virginia, King and Queen County

MediumLinen (identified by eye)

DimensionsOL shoulder to hem 19 ¾ in.
Waist 21 in.

Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-138

DescriptionWhite linen child’s dress. Dress has wide neckline with scalloped trim and a V-shaped cutwork design down the center front. Short sleeves with cutwork design and a scalloped hem. Dress has cutwork designs at the waist. Skirt is gathered to the waistband and has circular cutwork and eyelet motifs at the hem. The hem is scalloped. Dress fastens down the center back with a set of ties at the neckline.Label TextAccording to family history, this child's dress was worn by a young Mary Frances Boyd not long after her birth ca. 1835-1836. Boyd spent her whole life in King and Queen County, VA. In 1854, she married Maurice Pendleton Todd, and the two lived at Poplar Grove Plantation. The couple had at least five children, and this dress descended through the family.Provenance1836-1838, worn by Mary Frances Boyd [1836-1900] (King & Queen County, VA); 1900 passed by descent to Robert Boyd Todd (1856-1909) [King & Queen County, VA); 1909 passed by descent to Sue Morrison Todd [1887-1978] (Richmond, VA); 1955 given to the Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023-present given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)