Coat
Category
Costume
Date
1930 - 1940
Materials
Cotton, Silk, Metal thread, Satin
Measurements
1100 mm (W)
Place of origin
Syria
Order this imageCollection
Greenway, Devon
NT 121822
Summary
Coat of woven red silk and cotton with collar, front opening and bow featuring a gold stripe and with a gold Y-shaped design on the back embellished with hanging pendant motifs. The coat was tailored for author Agatha Christie (1890-1976) from a man's cloak known as an abaya and likely to have been woven in Syria. Christie may have bought the fabric during one of her many archaeological field trips in the Middle East accompanying her husband Sir Max Mallowan (1904-1978) and recalled in her memoir Come tell me how you live? published in 1946. See also Christie's evening coat (NT 121821), also made from an abaya.
References
Vogelsang-Eastwood 2019: Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Dressed with Distinction: Garments from Ottoman Syria (ex. cat.), Los Angeles 2019; venue: Fowler Museum at UCLA 2019 Christie, Agatha, 1890-1976 Come, tell me how you live 1946.