Antique Victorian 1880s Blue Wool Skirt Pennsylvania German Folk Art Tulip Woven For Sale

Striking late 19th-century Victorian wool skirt, acquired from an early estate in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Made in a rich cobalt blue winter-weight wool, the skirt features an unusually beautiful black woven border of stylized tulip or floral forms, finished at the hem with substantial hand-crocheted black scalloped trim.

The skirt is exceptionally full and constructed with deep pleating into a contrasting striped woven waistband, with long ties at the back for fastening. The combination of the stylized tulip border, traditional construction and Lancaster, Pennsylvania provenance is suggestive of Pennsylvania German decorative and textile traditions. Dating approximately to the 1880s–1890s.

The waist measures approximately 30 inches, the hips approximately 44 inches, and the skirt measures approximately 34 inches from waist to hem.

Overall good antique condition with evidence of its age and use. There are scattered stains and discoloration, small holes, areas of wear and a number of old period mends and repairs. Please examine all photographs carefully.

This extraordinary Victorian skirt is a graphic and evocative piece of 19th-century clothing. The saturated cobalt wool, architectural pleating, black tulip border and heavy crocheted hem give it tremendous presence—equally compelling as a piece of wearable textile history or displayed as Pennsylvania folk art.