Gabrielle Chanel Embroidered Black Silk Jersey Robe. The 1920s robe with a butterfly type capelet over the sleeveless dress, with crossover front bodice having long ties of grosgrain ribbon. The back has three lower panels stitched into the bodice as if it were a yoke. The capelet, dress front and dress hem to back embroidered in pastel hues with ovals and roundels of flower heads and leaves centering cornucopia issuing extensive floral bouquets. {Approximate Measurements: Bust: 36", Length: 42 3/4" from top of neck to hem edge. Capelet roughly 16" L.}Provenance: Property of a Descendent of the Original Owner, Bay Area, California. Condition: The overall condition of this robe is very good. The silk jersey is lively, and the embroidery color is vibrant. Stitching to rear shoulder seam, right side, and loose thread to left side. There are no rips, tears or holes to this garment. Notes: This robe is a wonderful example of early Chanel, showing the influence of couturiers Worth and Poiret as well as of theatrical dress on the designer in her early days. Fairies and butterflies were two ethereal visual devices that were fascinations of the high Victorian and Edwardian periods. Here, Chanel uses the capelet as a simplification of butterfly wings. Actors and actresses used Asian robes as their backstage dress as early as 1880. Here, the contrast between the delicately shaded flowers on the black ground is reminiscent of the shawls of China, first popularized for Western dress circa 1910. A gown showing a basket of flowers and oval embroidery by Kitmir, is illustrated in L'Art et la Mode, 1926. Kitmir was the name given to the Parisian Russian embroidery coop founded by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia.