Silk: 1760-1765; Dress: c. 1760-1765, with later alterations

Woman's Dress (Open Robe à la française and Petticoat)

This dress is believed to have been worn by Ann Willing Francis (1733-1812), wife of prominent lawyer and Federalist Tench Francis, Jr. (1730-1800) of Philadelphia, whom she married in 1762. Ann was the daughter of Charles Willing, a successful Philadelphia merchant who traded in textiles and other items, a founder of the University of Pennsylvania, and mayor of Philadelphia in 1748 and 1754. This dress was altered several times, including for fancy-dress occasions, during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.