Manchester Art Gallery, 2019

The 2019 Elizabeth Hammond Conservation Grant of £4,950 was made to Manchester Art Gallery to pay for the conservation of a unique late 19th Century smoking jacket for their major exhibition ‘Dandy Style’, which ran October 7th February 2022 - May 1, 2023.

It formed the centrepiece in the section of the exhibition investigating the ‘Artistic Dandy’,  highlighting the more flamboyant, artistic styling favoured the men of the Aesthetic movement.

The jacket is part of the historically significant Cunnington collection which was purchased by Manchester Corporation in 1947 and which forms the foundation of Manchester’s internationally famous costume collection.