A EUROPEAN STEEL CORSET MID-18TH CENTURY

the metal bodice made of thin sheets of steel, pierced with a trellis pattern overall and an oval plate on the left chest, the breast plate with a vertical hinge down the front and a buckle clasp at the back

Collection of Giovanni Pertinax Morosini.
Collection of Giulia Morosini.
American Art Association, New York, 1932.

Metal corsets came into vogue in Europe towards the end of the fifteenth century, when a new style of silhouette fashion was introduced during the Renaissance period. Silk industries were flourishing in Italy and Spain, where heavily brocaded textiles of velvet, silk and damasks became increasingly popular. Hence a stiffened garment was essential to create shapes and structures beneath the broader body lines favoured by contemporary fashion. Boned or metal corsets were also thought to serve medical purposes in creating an orthopaedic brace for better back support.

The present corset would probably have been worn on top of a softer undergarment, as suggested by a double band of small apertures around the edges for the attachment of padding to prevent chafing.