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Pure yet practical, white has been the traditional choice for baby clothing for hundreds of years. Shown in the Wilton Historical Society’s Sloane Gallery, these tiny garments were made with love and lavished with fine needlework. There are christening gowns and slips, night gowns, caps, bonnets, bibs, dresses and petite shoes created between 1800 and 1950. The delicate attire is shown with some of the furnishings of childhood – a cradle, blankets, highchair, silver mugs and utensils, baby bottles and rattles.
A circa 1870 sewing box is a reminder of the countless hours women spent laboring over their precious snowy creations, working by the light of candles, oil lamps, or rays of sunlight through a window. They made exquisite clothing with nearly invisible stitches, tiny tucking, tatting, crochet, soutache, cutwork, drawn work and embroidery. Their remarkable needle skills can be seen in the dainty items on display.
Many of these precious heirlooms have family connections to Wilton. Sturgis, Hurlbutt, Ambler, Belden, Davenport, Evans, Nash, Marvin, Parisot, Rounds – many are now memorialized as road names, while others still boast descendants still living in town today.
"White Linen and Lace: Baby Clothing, 1800 to 1950' was designed by guest curator Kathy Torg, a former curator at the Wilton Historical Society.
The exhibition is now open, and will run through Oct. 4. The society is located at 224 Danbury Road.
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