English: Dress, woman's court dress with sack back, dove grey silk (petticoat missing), self stripped with wool embroidered flower sprays; silk and wool braiding, sack back, flounced sleeves, long straight pointed front to bodice, slight pannier shaping at sides; dress belonged to ancestress of the donor who was a maid of honour at the court of George III from Angela Lassig's notes for label- formal sack dress; probably English, late 1760s-1770s; warp-faced silk with satin self-stripe and moire effect, chenille embroidery, ruched fabric trim, silk fly fringing and areas padded with cotton wool; was originally a luminous pale blue. Old colonial 807 Donor belonged to ancestress maid of honour in court of George III "Court dress of the reign of George III worn by a Maid of Honour who was an ancestress of the late Mr. R. E. Pilgrim" (ocm); self striped silk moire, deep cream in colour with raised embroidery in predominantly autumn colours; skirt divides in front to show quilted silk underskirt (col); wool embroidery; silk and wool braiding; sack back; flounced sleeves; long straight pointed front to bodice, slight pannier shaping at sides; underskirt missing (T card) sack back gown maker unknown probably England, late 1760s - 1770s material(s)-process silk, metal, linen, cotton Old Colonist’s Museum collection, gift of Mrs A Pilgrim, 1949, collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum, 1965.78.765, OCM 2201, Col 807, T88 This type of woman’s formal robe dress was called a sack or sacque in England, and a robe a la Francaise in France, and was a style popular all over Europe. Originally a loose fitting garment or negligee, by the 1760s – 70s, the sack consisted of two pieces; a long petticoat shaped by large side hoops (panniers) over which was worn a matching dress with closed bodice and skirt open to reveal the underskirt. At this time, skirts often had tapes attached in side so that they could be looped up if required. A slightly earlier and increasingly less popular variation of the sack had the bodice opening over a triangular panel, usually trimmed, and called a stomacher, which was pinned to a stiffened corset. This dress was originally a luminous pale blue. Self-striped silks in light colours and featuring floral patterns and time were very popular towards the later part of the 18th century. Records state that this dress was originally worn buy an ancestor of the donor who was a maid of honour at the court of George III. (AL) sack back gown, probably England, late 1760s - 1770s "SACK DRESS pale green striped silk-flower sprays embroidered in chenille green, red, yellow and brown. All edges are trimmed with a ribbon braid. This overdress has front opening, square neck, ¾ narrow cross-cut sleeves with three flounces. Lined fitted bodice laced at back. Sack back in deep pleats falls from the neck band. Fitted waist line. Full skirt at sides. This dress would have been worn over matching petticoat (missing) and over pocket hoops over each hip. Also ruffles under the sleeve flounces and tucker at the neck."