PICTURE the scene – Lady Bracknell and her niece, Gwendolyn, are dressed for tea, in their best gowns … elegant, beautiful, utterly impractical, but a triumph of lace, chiffon and the designer’s art. A new exhibit at the National Trust’s Kingston Lacy House near Wimborne, gives visitors a chance to see a magnificent example of the tea-gown, designed for Henrietta Bankes, the mother of Henry John Bankes who gave the Kingston Lacy estate to the Trust in 1981.
It is the first time this beautiful gown has been on display, after careful conservation work. The display also includes other personal items, including Henrietta’s wedding ring and letters that reveal details about her wedding, as well as Japanese ceramics and objects acquired by the Bankes family over the past three centuries.
The tea-gown was made by the first major female couturier Jeanne Paquin (1869-1936), a pioneering designer who stood out for her innovative, creative talent and shrewd business sense. Paquin also supplied the wedding dress, bridesmaid’s dresses and trousseau when Henrietta married in 1897.
The exhibition not only explores Henrietta’s legacy but celebrates 20 years since the restoration of the Japanese Garden at Kingston Lacy, which was designed by Henrietta more than a century ago.
Kingston Lacy curator Elena Greer says: ‘”This display celebrates two bold and creative women: Henrietta Bankes and Jeanne Paquin. Henrietta Bankes achieved a remarkable amount at Kingston Lacy, creating beautiful and ambitious gardens, modernising the facilities in the house, and running the household and estate. The exhibition also explores the creativity and craftsmanship involved in the making – and conservation – of the tea gown.”
Recent conservation work revealed that the tea gown was subsequently let out, possibly to accommodate a changing shape after Henrietta had children. A variety of textiles made the conservation work particularly challenging, with new underpinnings and a bespoke costume dummy enabling the dress to be displayed safely.
Photographs by Jarod James