Ivory Dreams, Colonial Realities - Ivory Silk Corsage
- maudebasskrueger
- May 18
- 3 min read
Mathilde Kirchner et Cie,
Rue Royale 95-97, Brussels 1912
Silk, lace, tulle, metal
Donated by Mme. van Spaendonck, 2024
Royal Museums of Art and History,
Brussels
D.4865.00
This ivory satin silk blouse from 1912 is trimmed with hand-made Belgian lace at the sleeves and front, emphasizing the fashionable billowy cut. The transparent three-quarter-length linen tulle sleeves feature a small ruche at the lower part of the sleeve that is adorned with a row of little bows and a band of silk. The same tulle fabric extends into a high collar, reinforced with visible celluloid boning. Intended to be worn with a separate skirt that attached to the waistband, the blouse accentuates the waist and ‘pigeon-breast’ bust, still in style around 1912. The revealing nature of the see-through fabric at the sleeves and collar indicates its use as evening wear. The blouse is an eloquent testament to the passage of time. The main silk fabric is disintegrating due to either the synthetic ivory-coloured dye commonly used in that era or due to the use of metal salts to increase the weight of the silk. It also shows clear alterations, as the lace is attached in a puzzling and seemingly asymmetrical manner. The irregularity hints at a layered history of ownership and modification.
The blouse bears the label “Mathilde Kirchner, 95 Rue Royale 97”. The Brussels almanacs allow us to trace the change in name, from Kirckner to Kirchner in 1912 and her relocation from Rue Royale to Boulevard Bischoffsheim in 1913, which makes it possible to date the garment to the exact year of 1912. The prominent location of Rue Royale in the centre of Brussels, where furriers, florists, and other dressmakers were located next to banks, trade unions, and various international trade offices, suggests that she had a thriving business.
In 1912, the ivory colour of the silk, a fashionable color in Belgium, held particular symbolic significance. Belgium had taken official control of the Congo following the brutal and personal rule of King Leopold II (1885-1908). Although public scrutiny meant that the immense atrocities of the colonial venture were denounced, forced labour persisted under new names and forms, and in many cases it was business as usual. This was most certainly the case for the ivory trade. Maurice Calmyen, a fervent critic of King Leopold II whose travel memoir of Congo was banned until 1930 due to its sharp critiques, travelled there twice, in 1907 and 1908, to hunt elephants. The memoir is characteristic of the attitudes of the time: criticism of Leopold II's practices were separated from the harsh realities of the extraction of ivory. Elephants were killed on a massive scale (100,000 a year from the start of Leopold’s rule), justified by forged narratives of benevolence. The ivory hunt was contrasted with the alleged practices of the Arabs, who were said to burn villages to obtain fossilised tusks. The swift killing of elephants with guns was also said to contribute to the humanisation of the hunt. These narratives, along with colonial imaginaries of the empty lands waiting to be exploited, enabled a mental detachment. In Belgium, the elite consumed ivory in all forms, sartorial and sculptural. Art Nouveau artists popularised the material by incorporating it into art and architecture and world exhibitions prominently featured tusks and ivory statues. The choice of colour for the blouse was far from accidental; it reflected both material trends and a distinct colonial mindset.
Written by Anna Bisperink
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