Nineteenth Century Burial Dress Three cast iron coffins from South Louisiana contain amazingly well preserved garments from 1850s male and female burials and provide an unprecedented research opportunity Textile remains from the other burials have been more fragmentary

Mid-nineteenth Century Cast Iron Coffin Burials Garments from 1850s Louisiana burial Embroidered chemisette Embroidered undersleeve Waist band on petticoat Cloth shoe

Alice Taylor, Burial garment fragments from chemise and nightgown and detail of trim on ruffled yolk of nightgown

Col. Lewis DeRussy, Detail of red brocade on waistcoat fabric Porcelain buttons and fabric button holes from waistcoat Col. DeRussy Late 1850s man’s white waistcoat from LSU Historic Textile and Costume Museum, believed to be similar to the one worn by Col. DeRussy