Litter
Author: Unknown
Origin: Portugal
Dating: 18th-19th century
Material: Wood, Leather, Metal, Glass, Silk and Cotton
Inv. no.: PD1337
A two-seater vehicle meant to be pulled by mules tied to two lateral bars.
It is decorated in brownish and golden tones, with marbled blue motifs, floral elements and the coat of arms of the Margaride Family. The upper cover is of flat leather and the interiors are garnished with yellow silk damask.
This piece belonged to the father of Ana Júlia Rebelo Cardoso de Meneses, the 1st Countess of Margaride (1838-1911).
The Margaride collection
Since 2003, the Ducal Palace of the Bragança has in its collection a donation of garments from the Carmo Household, donated by the Count of Margaride’s family.
They are representative pieces of the costume of the Count of Margaride, Luis Cardoso Martins da Costa Macedo (1836-1919), and his wife, D. Ana Júlia Rebelo Cardoso de Meneses (1838-1911). Luis Cardoso de Macedo Martins de Meneses (1836-1919) – and to his wife – Júlia Leonor Pinheiro Lobo Machado Cardoso de Meneses (1838-1911).
This collection reflects the daily and social life of a family that frequently participated in ceremonial ceremonies held in their own House, but also in external public events – real, military, religious and apparatus.
It is a collection composed by 129 pieces, of masculine and feminine attire, being the feminine in greater number. These are pieces used both by family members and servants who served them. Also included in this collection are clothing accessories, namely: a fan, gloves, indents and hairpins, feathers, lace, hat pins and ties. This collection consists of 129 pieces of male and female garments and, this month, we’re highlighting a set in silk (jacket and skirt) that belonged to the Countess.
This donation testifies to the evolution of the way of dressing in the period between the end of the eighteenth century and the end of the century. XIX, and represents the variations of taste of the Portuguese aristocracy, much in the way of European fashion chains. When the most exquisite outfits of the Countess Ana Júlia were made, during the late 19th century, the Carmo Household had a great political and communitarian influence in Guimarães.
The high quality of the fabrics used to dress the costumes include: plain or drawn silks, plain wools made of taffeta or embossed velvet, linens, cotton, mixed fabrics and even acrylics.
The execution of these pieces was often the responsibility of dressmakers of large houses, for example, in the male case: in Braga the Tailor Oliveira and Filho; in Porto, the Amorim house, the Camisaria Gomes and the Chapelaria Maia e Silva & Filho; in Lisbon, the tailor Leon Durand and Camisaria Sport. In this period, Paris ruled Fashion and its influences were followed by the elites. The Countess’s high-quality outfits were bought in haute couture houses in Paris and Lisbon.
As for the female costume, it was acquired, for example: in Porto, in the house of Lina Queiroz and in the house of Alberto Marinho; in Lisbon, in the house of Aline Neuville, of António Soares de Castro & Almeida, successors, as well as in the one of A. C. Serra; in Paris, in ‘Au Louvre confections’.
