The Peacock Dress
Jean Philippe Worth (1856 - 1926)
Category
Costume
Date
c. 1900 - 1902
Materials
Gold and silver Zardozi embroidery with applied green beetle wing covers (elytra) on silk taffeta; lining of Indian cotton muslin; lace net, rhinestones, white silk roses
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 107881
Caption
On 6 January 1903, Lady Mary Curzon (1870– 1906) wore the Peacock Dress to the Delhi Durbar State Ball. The ceremonial event was hosted by her husband, George Nathaniel Curzon (1859–1925), as Viceroy of India, and was attended by elite colonial Indian society to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII (1841–1910) as Emperor of India. As Vicereine, Lady Curzon’s fashion reflected her clever adaptation of popular patterns. Making an unusual choice for the period, the dress fabric was embroidered by craftsmen in the Delhi workshop of Kishan Chand, using local embroidery techniques. The gold and silver thread with iridescent emerald beetle wings created the striking peacock-feather motif. The design may also have referenced the Mughal Peacock Throne, once housed in the Diwan-i-Khas chamber where the State Ball was held. The fabric was sent to House of Worth in Paris and transformed into a unique haute couture gown weighing 4.5kg. It presented an extravagant contrast to the aftermath of the Indian famine beyond the walls of the Delhi Durbar. Christo Kefalas
Summary
Gold and silver Zardozi embroidery with applied green beetle wing covers (elytra) on silk taffeta with a lining of Indian cotton muslin. The Peacock Dress embroidery was made at the workshop of Kishan Chand in India before being sent to French haute couture designers ‘House of Worth’ in Paris to be made into a fashionable European gown, c.1900–1902. It was worn by Mary Victoria Leiter, Lady Curzon (1870-1906), Vicereine of India, at the Delhi Durbar in 1903.
Full description
Lady Mary Curzon became Vicereine of India upon on her husband’s appointment as Viceroy in 1898. She recorded her experience of India in diaries and countless letters, a life revolving around a calendar of social events staged to symbolise the authority of the British Empire. Despite frequent ill-health, Lady Curzon was the public face of the Viceroyalty and her life was scrutinised and reported on by the press. She had a keen interest in fashion and was aware of the importance of her appearance as the wife of a political figure. Known for her preference of combining Indian textiles with European fashion styles, Lady Curzon wore this gown, known as Peacock Dress, at the 1903 Delhi Durbar Coronation Ball. The Ball was the pinnacle of two weeks of events marking the succession of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and Empress of India. It was held in the Diwan-I-Khas at the Red Fort, Delhi, the historic residence of the Mughal Emperors. Lady Curzon’s dress deliberately referred to – or, as the historian Nicola J. Thomas writes, ‘replaced’ – the Peacock Throne which had originally stood in the Diwan-I-Khas (Thomas 2007, p. 392). This dazzling jewelled throne, now lost, was made for Shah Jahan in the early 17th century but was looted during the Persian invasion of Nader Shah in 1739. A replica throne was destroyed in 1857 when the British commandeered the Red Fort as a garrison in India’s First War of Independence. The gown was made of Zardozi embroidered fabric traditionally used for elaborate Mughal court garments and palace furnishings. The technique takes its name from the densely worked metal thread; zar (gold) and dozi (work). It used the peacock image for its pattern, a symbol of great significance in Indian culture and the Hindu religion. The use of this motif would have been noted by all who saw it. The fabric was embroidered at the workshop of Kishan Chand in India and is likely to have been sourced by Lady Mary herself before being shipped to Paris to be made into a dress by the House of Worth (Thomas, 2007). Mary was unusual in her choice to wear Indian textiles, and to have many of her clothes made up in India. This would not have gone unnoticed in the higher echelons of Indian society, among Maharajas and Maharanis at state functions. Other gowns worn by Lady Curzon in India are in the collection of the Fashion Museum, Bath.
Provenance
Commissioned by Lady Mary Curzon and by descent to her daughter Lady Alexandra Metcalfe; offered and accepted in lieu of inheritance tax by HM Government and generously allocated to Kedleston for display in 1997.
Makers and roles
Jean Philippe Worth (1856 - 1926), designer House of Worth , designer workshop of Kishan Chand, embroiderer
References
Thomas 2007: Thomas, Nicola, J. Embodying imperial spectacle: dressing Lady Curzon, Vicereine of India 1899-1905, 'Cultural Geographies', Vol. 14, No. 3 (July 2007), pp. 369-400. ‘The Imperial Durbar at Delhi’, The Illustrated London News, 17 January 1903 Jane Ashleford, The Art of Dress. Clothes and Society 1500-1914, The National Trust, 1996, pp.250-252. Antrobus and Slocombe 2025: Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe, 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust, National Trust 2025, pp. 154-155.