Cuffs
Unknown Artist
1770s
Medium
silk
Classification
Cuffs
Culture
probably French
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Judith and Gerson Leiber Fund, 1992
Accession Number
1992.310a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of 18th-century fashion withCuffs*, a delicate silk accessory from the 1770s, likely in France. Attributed to an unknown artist, these cuffs exemplify the exquisite textile artistry of the late Rococo era, just before the French Revolution upended aristocratic extravagance. Silk, a prized luxury material imported and woven with masterful precision, was reserved for the elite, symbolizing wealth and refinement in an age when detachable cuffs adorned both men's and women's garments for dramatic effect. In the Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, *Cuff...