Dressing gown
Category
Costume
Date
1860
Materials
Camel hair
Place of origin
Afghanistan
Order this imageCollection
Carlyle's House, London
NT 263842
Caption
In September 1862 Lieutenant General Sir Lewis Pelly (1825–92) was lying under a star filled sky outside the walls of Herat Fort (Qala Ikhtyaruddin) in Persia (now in Afghanistan). He was gathering intelligence for the British government, taking a long, dangerous journey from Persia’s capital, Tehran, to the border of British India. In his journal, Pelly described a sudden feeling of calm after days of exhausting travel and turbulent politics that had left his ‘head somewhat loose on its shoulders’. He put this down to the influence of his friend Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881), a highly influential 19th-century historian, philosopher and writer, made famous in part by his promotion of heroism and leadership, underpinned by his belief that the ‘soul of history’ is created by exceptional men. In gratitude, the following morning Perry purchased a camel-hair robe in the bazaar, which he had sent back to Carlyle, and which was subsequently made up into this dressing gown. Carlyle was later painted wearing the dressing gown as an old man. Emma Slocombe
Summary
Camel hair robe, made in Afghanistan and restyled as a dressing gown. It was worn by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), 1860. The camel hair robe was given to Carlyle by Sir Lewis Pelly (1825-92) as a token of his esteem. Possibly the dressing gown in which Carlyle was depicted when modelled by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-90) in 1874 (NT 263801). It may also be the coat in which Helen Allingham (1848-1926) painted Carlyle in 1879 (NT 263727).
Full description
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly (1825-92) was a British East India Company officer, and then imperial army and political officer. Pelly was Secretary of the British Legation in Tehran (then Persia) from 1859 to 1860. Pelly travelled extensively and wrote, ‘I was lying one evening outside the walls of the Herat Fort, under the starlight, when it occurred to me that I was unaccountably calm and happy […] On reflection, I attributed my mental condition to the influence of Carlyle. […] The next morning I went into the bazaar and selected a finely woven camel’s hair robe… which reached Mr Carlyle in due course.’ (Lewis Pelly, "Glimpses of Carlyle," Fortnightly Review 51 [May 1892] 725–26)
Provenance
Made in Herat, Afghanistan, and purchased by Sir Lewis Pelly (1825-92) in 1860; given to Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) in 1860. Presented to the Carlyle's House Memorial Trust by G C Allingham.
References
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. 118-119.