Dressed to Kill, Dressed to Till
One of the earliest examples currently identified of the traditional New England farmer’s frock or smock, similar to those also famously worn by waggoners and mariners. The fabric is a blue linsey-woolsey, woven in a stripe pattern with off-white linen warp and indigo blue woolen weft, the white and blue threads doubled to form a twill-like appearance. The frock is approximately 45 inches long by 32 inches wide, with wide, gusseted sleeves gathered into the body armholes and 2 inch-wide cuffs, each closed by a bone “dead-eye” button. It has reinforcing straps and neck gussets on each shoulder and a narrow collar closing with one button. There are pockets set into the side-seams on each side, with bags of blue-striped, homespun linen. The frock evidences long usage and wear, with multiple period repairs and patches, and some loss to the lower front. Provenance: 2018 estate sale at the Plumer House (c. 1700) on the Lower Green, home of the Plumer-Humphreys-Barton family that first settled Newbury, Massachusetts in the early 1600s. Note: The reproduction garments photographed on mannequin with the smock do not convey with the original.
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