Assortment of Dress Fabric Scraps

PeriodCirca 1825 - 1850

Place MadeU.S.A., France, and England

MediumCotton, cotton twill, silk, silk twill, cotton gauze; cardboard

Dimensions4 × 2.5 in. (10.2 × 6.4 cm)

ClassificationsCostume, Women's

Credit LineGift of Miss Dorothy Symmes, 1934

Object number2023.504

DescriptionA group of eighteen fabric scraps cut in irregular shapes, mostly triangular, all of dress goods of cotton, silk, and linen. The assemblage includes (1) lightweight silk in aqua, circa 1800; (2) plain weave cotton print, pink and white ground with darker pink zigzag edged meandering ribbon, circa 1820-1830; (3) plain weave cotton in cocoa brown, tiny bit of white repeat pattern at one corner, circa 1800 - 1830; (4) twilled silk plaid in dark blue, medium blue, black, and pale blue, circa 1830 - 1850; this scrap is the largest; (5) plain weave cotton plaid in brown with teal, orange, medium brown, and white, circa 1840 - 1855; (6) plain weave lightweight cotton in white and light gray narrow stripe, circa 1810 - 1850; (7) plain weave cotton with a caramel brown ground and sprigs of bright red and green flowers, circa 1800 - 1830; (8) plain weave cotton in dark brown with white leafy sprigs, circa 1795 - 1820; (9) plain weave cotton with a pink and white stripe/pink leaf pattern, circa 1825 - 1840; (10) a linen or linen/cotton blend small check in white and dark green, circa 1810 - 1850; (11) plain weave silk, in a vibrant plaid of medium blue, ombre pink, yellow, brown, and black, circa 1840 - 1855; (12) plain weave cotton plaid in brown and blue on off-white, circa 1820 - 1840; (13) cotton gauze in a light seafoam green, circa 1800; (14) plain weave cotton in pale pink and white plaid with a dark red narrow stripe, circa 1825 - 1830; (15) plain weave cotton in dark brown with a small white single-leaf repeat, circa 1795 - 1825; (16) plain weave cotton in a graded tan striping with small pink and green floral sprigs, circa 1820 - 1830; (17) plain weave cotton in maroon with dagged edged white leaf repeats, circa 1825 - 1845; (18) plain weave cotton in dark brown with off-white meander ribbon with "hairy" borders, circa 1830 - 1840. The entire group of fabric scraps accompanied with the original typed card reading "Pieces of dresses worn by Mrs. Robert Ray, wife of a former pastor of Old Tennent. They were presented by a relative to Mr. John A. Oakerson, & given by him to Miss Dorothy Symmes, daughter of the late Rev. Frank R. Symmes, D.D."
Curatorial RemarksAlthough Sarah Trimble Roy's wardrobe is long since gone, the small fabric scraps - some of which are no bigger than two inches across - provide a fascinating and intimate look at one woman's fashion fabric choices. The Association has several cloth fragments with attached stories, but this collection is unusual in the sheer number of examples and the strong provenance of the artifacts. The earliest fragment is most likely the pale aqua blue silk strip. Examination of this piece indicates that it appears to have been snipped from an existing dress, as needle/seam holes are visible, and the fragment is stained in several areas. This particular color blue was highly popular for gowns, bodices, and jackets in the very late 18th and early 19th centuries. Although we have no way of knowing, it might be that Sarah kept this particular piece as a remnant of her youth. The seafoam green gauze is also probably quite early and may date to around the same time as the aqua silk. While virtually all the scraps would have been appropriate for dress goods, the small patterned green and white check fragment was more likely used to make an apron or other accessory. The collection includes many fabrics suitable for everyday work dresses, particularly the dark brown fabrics with simple leaf repeats, while the lighter pink-based fabrics would have been used for attractive dressy gowns for receptions, visits, and even Sunday services led by her husband, Reverend Robert Roy. The largest scrap is a piece of medium-weight silk in a relatively dark pattern of blue and black plaid. This fabric would have been suitable for a winter gown. The plaids most likely date somewhat later. Although plaid pattern variations were perennially popular, the colorways of these samples indicate that they were most likely from the late 1840s and early 1850s. Overall, the collection indicates a woman who enjoyed her wardrobe, compiling a collection of fabric mementos to remind her of favorite gowns. The fabrics ranged in cost from high-priced silks to mid-range multicolored printed cottons of high quality, to inexpensive, simple cottons for housework. Since the fabrics - other than the two earliest examples (the blue silk and green cotton gauze) - were clipped and saved during the dressmaking process, the fabrics reveal their original bright, unfaded colors.NotesSarah Trimble was born in 1785 in Orange County, New York. She married Reverend Robert Roy on December 31, 1827 at the First Presbyterian Church in Goshen, Orange County, New York. Robert Roy was born in 1792 and attended Princeton Theological Seminary beginning in 1820. After studying for three years, Roy then spent several years in Virginia as a missionary. On February 18, 1829, he was installed as pastor of Old Tennent Church. Sarah and Robert purchased nine acres of land nearby and built a home, paying for everything themselves. Roy was in poor health, however, and after less than two years at Old Tennnet traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, for the "repair of his throat and lungs." The trip did not help, and Roy continued to decline. Towards the end of his life, he could barely preach above a whisper. Robert Roy died on March 15, 1832, at the age of 40 and was buried in Old Tennent graveyard. Sarah Trimble Roy continued to live in the house for many years. Apparently the couple had no children, but adopted a daughter named Mary Jane, who later married a Doctor Kemble. Sarah Trimble Roy died at the age of 73 on April 1, 1858. According to the typed story card that accompanied the scraps, the collection was given "by a relative," perhaps Sarah's adopted daughter Mary Jane (who in Robert Roy's will was described as "niece"), to Freehold resident Mr. John A. Oakerson, who later gave the mementos to Dorothy Symmes. Dorothy's father, the Reverend Frank Rosebrook Symmes, was a longtime pastor at Old Tennent Church and wrote a detailed history of the congregation in 1904, in which Rev. Robert Roy was briefly mentioned. Symmes noted that "Mr. Roy was a very sociable and amiable man, exceedingly pleasant in conversation and company, and kind to all." Roy's will indicated that Robert had several pieces of property, including acreage near Lake Champlain in upstate New York as well as the nine acres near Old Tennent Church. It is clear that Sarah and Robert did not need to rely solely on his salary as the pastor of Old Tennent Church, allowing them to purchase their own property and build as suited them. In addition, this could explain the relative expense of the samples of Sarah's dress goods, a number of which would have ranged from expensive (the silks for example) to mid-range, such as the high-quality printed cottons.

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