{"product_id":"padded-garment-hanger-covered-in-woven-gold-damask-metallic-braid-trim-and-brass-toned-ball-tipped-hook-c-1940-1980","title":"Padded Garment Hanger Covered in Woven Gold Damask, Metallic Braid Trim and Brass-Toned Ball-Tipped Hook, c. 1925–1945","description":"  \u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA padded coat hanger, gently curved, wrapped end to end in a \u003cstrong\u003egold damask\u003c\/strong\u003e the colour of old champagne.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fabric is \u003cstrong\u003ewoven, not printed\u003c\/strong\u003e. Hold it to the light and the pattern shifts — the figures come up matt against a lustrous ground and then reverse as you turn it, because the design is built into the cloth by the direction of the threads rather than laid on top of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe padding is soft and even the whole length, tapering toward each end, with the fabric drawn up and gathered neatly where it meets the shoulder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRising from the centre is a \u003cstrong\u003ebrass-toned wire hook finished with a small ball at the tip\u003c\/strong\u003e, and where it enters the padding there is a wrapped band of \u003cstrong\u003ewoven metallic gold braid\u003c\/strong\u003e, closing the join and hiding the stitching.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe weave is the point, so it is worth being exact about it.\u003c\/strong\u003e Damask is not a print and not an embroidery. The pattern is created on the loom by contrasting two weave structures in the same cloth: the figures are worked in one binding while the ground is a satin of long floats — warp threads, as Britannica describes it, passing over anywhere from two to seven or even nine picks — so that figure and ground catch light differently. Turn the cloth and the effect inverts. That is why damask reads as patterned from any angle and never wears its design off, which a printed fabric eventually does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe name comes from \u003cstrong\u003eDamascus\u003c\/strong\u003e, where fine patterned silks were woven in the European Middle Ages; Crusaders carried the cloth back into Europe in the eleventh century. It was silk to begin with, later any fibre, and by the mid-thirteenth century linen damask was established in the flax country of Courtrai and Haarlem. Handling it once meant a drawloom and a second worker lifting threads by hand; the Jacquard loom mechanised that, and power weaving from around 1835 made width and quantity possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePadded hangers exist for a specific reason.\u003c\/strong\u003e The wire coat hanger is a late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century object — O. A. North is generally credited with the modern wire hanger around 1860, and in 1903 Albert Parkhouse, working at the Timberlake Wire and Novelty Company in Jackson, Michigan, bent one up because every coat hook in the building was taken. What that solved for coats, it did badly for everything else: bare wire creates a hard point at the shoulder, and on silk, knitwear, satin and lingerie it leaves a bump, a rust stain or a tear. Padding it and covering the padding in a good cloth fixed all three at once, and covered hangers became a standard part of a well-kept wardrobe — made commercially, and made at home.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis one shows the hallmarks of careful making: the padding is even rather than lumpy, the covering is drawn and gathered symmetrically, and the braid band at the hook is a finishing touch rather than a necessity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt carries \u003cstrong\u003eno woven label, no printed tag, no maker's mark on the hook and no remaining stitched label\u003c\/strong\u003e of any kind, and is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDated on the hardware and the materials. A turned ball terminal on the hook and real woven metallic braid belong to the boudoir hanger of the interwar decades; the post-war padded hanger carries a plain bent hook and a printed synthetic cover. Dated on those, with the hand-gathered covering: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1925–1945\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePadded garment hanger, fabric covered\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCovering\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGold damask — \u003cstrong\u003ewoven, not printed\u003c\/strong\u003e. The pattern is formed by contrasting weave structures, matt figures against a lustrous satin ground, and reverses as the cloth turns to the light.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eTrim\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eA wrapped band of woven metallic gold braid at the base of the hook\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHardware\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eBrass-toned wire hook with a small ball terminal at the tip\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eConstruction\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCurved shaped core with even soft padding tapering to each end, the covering drawn and gathered at the shoulders\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eNone. No woven or printed label and no mark to the hook. Offered unattributed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1925–1945. Dated on the ball-tipped brass-toned hook, the woven metallic braid and the hand-gathered covering — interwar construction, replaced after the war by plain hooks and printed synthetics.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGood, clean and fully usable. The core is sound and the curve is true, the padding is intact and evenly distributed with no lumping or collapse, all seams and gathers are secure, the braid band is complete and firmly attached, and the hook is straight, tight in the body and free of rust. \u003cstrong\u003eExpect fading and light wear along the top edge of the damask\u003c\/strong\u003e, where the cloth has taken the most light and handling, along with gentle overall softening of the gold and faint surface soiling consistent with closet storage. No holes, no tears, no open seams, no moth damage, no odour and no repairs. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome objects are worth owning because of what they protect, and a padded hanger is one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA wire or thin wooden hanger concentrates the whole weight of a garment onto a narrow line at the shoulder, and over a season that becomes a permanent bump in a knit, a crease in a silk blouse or a stretched strap on a slip. A wide padded shoulder spreads the load and the problem goes away. Put this under the things that deserve it: an evening dress, a silk shirt, a cashmere cardigan, a christening gown, a jacket you want to keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt also earns a visible place. Most hangers are meant to be hidden; a gold damask one on the back of a wardrobe door, on a dressing-room rail or on a hook in a bedroom is an object rather than hardware, and it dresses whatever hangs on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe damask is the reason to take this one. Woven pattern has a depth that a printed one never manages — it changes as you move past it, catching light on the figures and losing it again — and it is the same technique, on the same principle, that has been used on fine cloth since long before anyone thought of hanging clothes on wire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a good, specific gift as well: paired with a silk scarf or a nightdress, given to someone setting up a first proper wardrobe, or used as the hanger a wedding dress goes home on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care. \u003cstrong\u003eDo not wash it, do not soak it and never put it in a machine.\u003c\/strong\u003e The cover is stitched over a padded core that will not dry through, the metallic braid will tarnish and stiffen in water, and a damask weave loses its lustre permanently once it has been wetted and dried flat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpot clean only, with a barely damp cloth and the lightest touch, and let it dry in open air. Use no bleach, no solvent and no upholstery foam.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep it out of direct sunlight, which is what has faded the top edge already and will keep going, and store it in a closed wardrobe with a cedar block or a lavender sachet nearby rather than mothballs, which leave an odour in padding that is almost impossible to get out. Lift it off the rail rather than dragging it, so the braid band is not worked loose.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48039810105449,"sku":"VE-0701","price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/C0AE43FB-797B-43B0-87CD-F8F3E372D5F6_ec3694ef-063d-4176-81eb-3318e0284b5d.jpg?v=1789118247","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/padded-garment-hanger-covered-in-woven-gold-damask-metallic-braid-trim-and-brass-toned-ball-tipped-hook-c-1940-1980","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}