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Woman's Busk

1768
Artist/maker unknown, American, Pennsylvania German
A busk made of rigid materials such as wood, metal, or baleen could be inserted down the front of a pair of stays to further ensure their uprightness and that any bending was done from the hips, not the waist. Sometimes busks were highly decorative, as this carved wooden example shows, often quite wide and thick; this was not meant to be functional but was made and given as a love token.

Object Details

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