Stays
PeriodCirca 1790 - 1800
Place MadePossibly New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumTwilled cotton, linen, wood, kid leather, wool, iron
Dimensions11 in. (27.9 cm)
ClassificationsCostume, Women's
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Charles Bennett and Miss Louise Hartshorne, 1935
Object number864
DescriptionA pair of woman's stays, constructed from four panels, with rear lacing closure. The stays have a straight front, dipping to a point above the abdomen. A center interior casing contains a simple wooden busk. The stays' front point is thickly padded with wool and chamois leather and appears to have been reinforced or additionally padded after its initial construction. The upper edge of the stays is bound with off-white cotton tape, while kid leather is used as a heavy duty binding along the hip areas. Two applied rectangular hip tabs are located at both sides of the stays. The lower points at the bottom edges of the back lacing closure are padded for ease in wear. Each side of the stays includes seven hand sewn eyelets. Narrow shoulder straps of brown cotton twill are sewn to the rear top edges at the shoulder area, and can be brought forward over the wearer's shoulders and tied to the front of the stays with narrow off-white cotton ties. Narrow off-white cotton tape fragments remain in portions of the eyelets. The stays are boned with baleen (whalebone) inserted into narrow interior channels. On the inside of the stays, a heavy 1/2" wide iron strap, formed into a half-circle, is sewn into a horizontal casing of tan linen and attached one inch below the top edge of the stays.Curatorial RemarksThe Historical Association has a number of artifacts owned and used by John and Mary Loyd Hendrickson. In addition to clothing items, the Association also has a clothes press made by Middletown furniture maker Fenwick Lyell (accession number 1984.2.1) and a set of shield back side chairs (1995.530), likely made as wedding gifts for the couple's marriage in 1793.NotesThis set of well-worn stays was owned by Mary Loyd Hendrickson (1772 - 1865). Mary married John Hendrickson (1773 - 1807) on November 27, 1793. The couple had seven children before John died at the age of 34. Mary Hendrickson never remarried, dying at the age of 93 in 1865. After her son Charles married Julia Ann Schureman, Mary Loyd Hendrickson lived with the family until her death. Mary's stays include a severe-looking iron half hoop, sewn to the upper portion of the inside. The Association has other Hendrickson family clothing including John Hendrickson's wedding breeches (accession number 832) and Mary Loyd's ivory silk wedding slippers (please see accession number 849).
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