Documentation of a Mariano Fortuny Delphos gown

by 1974- Dykes, Amy Renee

A Mariano Fortuny Delphos gown was donated to the Historic Costume and Textiles Collection in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia, with no available original ownership information. The purpose of this research was to analyze and document the University of Georgia gown. The objectives of this research included analysis of published information about Fortuny as well as a study of existing dresses in museum collections in the United States. After visual analysis of twenty pre-dated Delphos gowns in museum collections and examination of secondary sources a checklist was formed to use as guideline for dating Fortuny Delphos gowns. Then, visual analysis of the University of Georgia dress was conducted and compared to the checklist. The author confirmed that the dress is an authentic Mariano Fortuny Delphos gown dated 1934 and the accompanying slip was not original to the dress.