1805 Breeches, part of the Royal Naval Uniform of surgeon Joshua Horwood , who served as surgeon’s mate in HMS ‘Prince’ at Trafalgar, and was promoted to surgeon in 1807. via Royal Museums Greenwich, London, U.K. collections.rmg.co.uk
19th Century Late. Sterling Silver Five Piece Writing or Desk Set, Peru (under German Company). Hinged cut crystal inkwell with beveled edges, wheel cut starburst at base, wax seal with blank matrix, blotter, dip pen and letter opener. Each with guilloche enamel featuring yellow rose with lush green leaves on pale blue background, trimmed with a lighter shade of blue enamel. Dip pen with allover pale blue guilloche enamel, pen nib marked 14k Gold Plated.
![19th Century Late SterlingSilverFivePieceWritingorDeskSetPeru_Dippenwithpaleblueguillocheenamel_pennib14kGoldPlatedbatch.jpg ]
19th Century Late. Sterling Silver Five Piece Writing or Desk Set, Peru (under German Company). Hinged cut crystal inkwell with beveled edges, wheel cut starburst at base, wax seal with blank matrix, blotter, dip pen and letter opener. Each with guilloche enamel featuring yellow rose with lush green leaves on pale blue background, trimmed with a lighter shade of blue enamel. Dip pen with allover pale blue guilloche enamel, pen nib marked 14k Gold Plated.](https://suzilove.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/writing_19th_century_late_writing-and-desk-setperu_lge-1_lge_sml.jpg?w=554)
1812 Young Lady Playing Devil On Two Sticks, or, the “diabolo” game. The game was known as “The Devil on Two Sticks” in England at the time as the name “diabolo” was only invented later. Green dress with short puffed sleeves, dress decoration copied on high hat. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
1812 White Court Dress, French. Very small bodice, short sleeves, long burgundy velvet train, tiara, long white gloves and a fan. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Definition Court Dress: Usually, the difference between a court dress and a ball dress was in the quality of fabrics used, how elaborate the design, and the number and quality of the accessories. Plus, in England in the early 1800s court dresses were required by Queen Charlotte to have hoops and in France and other European countries court dresses a long train, usually expensively decorated. During the Regency Era, white cotton dresses were considered suitable for many evening events, but definitely not for an evening event in a palace.
1818 December Mourning Walking Dress. Round dress of black bombazine, body tight to the shape and up to the throat but without a collar, long sleeves, with white crape weepers, skirt is finished at the bottom with a broad black crape flounce, disposed in large plaits. Over this is a very narrow flounce, which is also plaited to correspond; a little above this is a third flounce, which is quilled in the middle to correspond, and the whole is surmounted by a broad band of bias crape. The spencer worn with this dress is composed of black clothing; it is cut without a seam, and ornamented with a fullness of black crape, disposed in large plaits at the bottom of the waist: a high standing collar rounded in front, made to stand out from the neck, and edged with a light trimming of black crape: long loose sleeves, finished at the hands with black crape trimming, and surmounted by epaulettes draperied with black cord and ornamented with small tassels. Head-dress, a bonnet of black crape of a moderate size; the edge of the brim is finished with a row of large hollow plaits; the crown is trimmed to correspond. A white crape frill stands up round the throat. Gloves and shoes black shamois leather. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’, London, U.K.
1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, U.K.
via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk. Credit: Given by the family of the late Mrs Jane Robinson. Museum number:T.192-1929
Back-lacing stays with a high narrow back with a wide curving decolletage and V-point in front, about 5 cm below the waistline. Decorative white lacing and white silk braids on centre front which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Below the waist there are 19 tabs, or phalanges, or fingers. Laced through 13 eyelets at back. Compartments for the strips of whalebone are 4 – 5 mm wide, running vertically and diagonally. Centre busk of whalebone about 2 cm wide. Shoulder straps have an eyelet and extend from the front and fasten with tape at each shoulder back.
Stays were an essential item of underwear for women during the 18th century. By the 1780s, the fashionable torso consisted of an inverted cone shape. Achieving smoothness of profile and firmness of contour were the primary function of 18th-century stays, rather than emphasising the bust or constricting the waist. Although custom-made and very intricately designed, stays were usually very plain. On these stays a simple silk ribbon and linen tape serve as decoration and functional finishings.
The narrow rows of very fine, even hand stitching form the compartments into which thin strips of whalebone were inserted. Although the stays appear very rigid, whalebone was quite flexible. It had the added advantage of softening with the heat of the wearer’s body, allowing the stays to mold to her shape. When worn, the shaped and boned tabs at the lower edge would splay over the wearer’s hips, giving further fullness to the petticoat tied at the waist over the stays.
1800-1817 ca. Black Wool Suit, British. An ensemble made from black wool has been the uniform of the middle-class professional – doctor, lawyer, clergyman, academic, merchant, businessmen – since the late 16th century. This tradition continued through the 19th century and well into the 20th. The sombre color of this suit befits the sober profession of its wearer, Thomas Coutts (1735-1822), the founder of Coutts Bank. The notched collar and cut-away front of the coat reflect early-19th-century fashions. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
This is the sort of suit that professional men in Jane Austen’s times would have worn, doctors, lawyers and clergymen. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
1800s Typical Game Bird Dishes Served during the 1800s. These are the sort of dishes Jane Austen’s family would have eaten on a regular basis. Banded Partridges, Roast Partridges, Roast Surrey Fowl, Larded Guinea Fowl, Roast Plovers, Stuffed Capons, Roast Gosling and Roast Pigeons. From: 1850s- 1860s Mrs. Beeton’s Books of Household Management. via Google Books (PD-150)
1811 White Dress, French. Dress with scalloped hem, pink Redingote, green paisley shawl and white hat. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Often left open at the front to show off the dress underneath. French word developed from English words, riding coat. Jane Austen and her contemporaries wore long coats like these to keep warm when out and about, visiting, shopping etc. The thin muslin dresses worn in the early 1800s were little protection against European winters.
Kelly’s Justice. I lived in Vanuatu, South Pacific, for 9 years and loved setting my book there.
Blurb: Kelly normally needs no help solving international security problems, but when someone from her past damages her reputation and threatens her life, she needs assistance. Joining forces with her old friend from the Australian army, now an expert on South Pacific politics, they destroy an island drug cartel and rescue kidnapped teenagers. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveKellysJustice
Excerpt
Kelly and Grant went into the kidnappers compound first, as they both spoke a reasonable amount of Bislama, the local Pidgin, plus conversational French. Before independence, Vanuatu had been a condominium, shared by both Britain and France. The locals referred to it as pandemonium as both languages were spoken and street signage was in both languages and most locals spoke a variety of languages. Foreigners who didn’t speak any of languages stood out. Luckily, Kelly and Grant could competently converse with most of the people they encountered.
When Grant threw an arm across her shoulders, she stiffened, but he grinned. “Gotta look the part, sweetlips. Think we’re being watched.”
She fake smiled while she poked him in the ribs. “Yes, Pookie. Two either side of the shed. One on left armed. Can’t see weapons on others.”
Grant squeezed her shoulder. “Play tourist as long as we can. Then you take right and I’ll go left.”
“Big generator on left. Too big for normal farm.” She looked up at him adoringly and gave him another sickly-sweet smile while sliding her hand to the pistol in her holster. The loose peasant blouse she’d worn over her training singlet hid the bullet proof vest and her Glock. She turned slightly towards Grant, giving him time to slide out his own pistol and hold it behind his back.
As they took more steps towards the shed, the men standing guard in front straightened and went on alert. Kelly lifted a hand, gave a friendly smile, and said in English, “Hi, guys. Our car broke down and we wanted to use your telephone.”
Their expressions didn’t change so English wasn’t their first language. She greeted them again in Bislama, but still no reaction. Grant tried French. The men shifted on their feet, their expressions wary but, apart from the man on the far left, the men didn’t appear to have weapons. By their appearance, she guessed they were from Asia, possibly Indonesia.
Kelly made the universal sign by holding an invisible phone to her ear. “Phone,” she said.
“No phone.” He pointed down the dirt road. “You go.”
“Help,” a voice yelled from the shed.
All hell broke loose.
