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A poisonous dress from the early Victorian period is on display at the Whanganui Regional Museum for a short time before being stored away for good.
The handmade frock, from the mid 1850s, was coloured with arsenic dye, which Whanganui Regional Museum's acting director Patricia Nugent-Lyne told Checkpoint was "absolutely toxic".
The dress was on display at the museum for the first and last time, she said.
"It's quite rare, this is the only evening gown from the early Victorian period [we have].
"It's a fantastic piece all completely handmade. An amazing example of skill and craftmanship of the time."
Nugent-Lyne said the dress had at least 12 metres of ruffles on the skirt and was coloured with arsenic dye which was "toxic" for the people who worked with it at the time.
"There were many deaths from people working with this dye," she said.
Those wearing the dresses were less at risk however, she said, due to the layers upon layers of petticoats that would have been worn underneath so they would not have direct skin contact.
A textile conservator had done work on the dress before it was displayed, Nugent-Lyne said, and was able to tell the original owner was right-handed and had one breast larger than the other.
The dress had been worn by the grandmother of the woman who donated it, she said.
The original owner's name was Ella Lance and Nugent-Lyne said when she went back through old papers she found there were records of Lance wearing the dress to at least three or four balls.
"She stood out every time she wore it," Nugent-Lyne said.
The dress had never been washed, she said, as the dyes used were not colour-fast and would be ruined.
It's on display throughout July.
This story was first published on rnz.co.nz |  |