Handkerchief

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The late 19th century marked a period of excess ornament and dazzling ostentation in the decorative arts. This handkerchief with its profuse display of embroidered elements and frothy lace offers an example of the ornateness that was in vogue at the time. The development of machine-made production made this excess in presentation available to a wide range of consumers.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art