Stole (Vest)

Maker once known

Euro-American

ca. mid-Late 1800s

Among the artifacts donated with Nelson’s diary was this stole, which, according to the donor, was worn by Nelson during the expedition. Priests and deacons both wear stoles for non-eucharistic services or when participating in services but not serving the altar. The stole hangs from a different angle around the shoulders depending on the wearer’s role as priest or deacon. The green of the stole (a faded green, though distinguishable when viewed in person) indicates that this was worn for the season of Epiphany as well as during Ordinary Time. 

Stoles and other vestments were typically made out of high-quality, fashionable fabrics. The stole appears to have been made from scrap fabric, perhaps leftover or remade from a lady’s dress. Effort has been made to align the vertical steps in the pattern of the fabric, but the floral details stop and start at the joins. 

The silk has shattered in several places, which is not unusual in silks from the late nineteenth century. Silks were sold by weight and not by yard like other fabrics, so in order to give commercial silk extra weight and sheen, metallic salts were commonly added; the friction between these sharp salts and the delicate silk threads led to the shattering effect.