On offer here is a spectacular and very rare English late 18th c ladies waistcoat. The last photo shows a very similar garment in the collection of the Fashion Museum at Bath, England. 
 
This waistcoat is profusely embroidered with birds, flowers, leaves, and trailing vines in the chinoiserie style. The colors of the silk threads are still vibrant and the gold metallic thread still bright in many places.  The ground is cream silk satin and the neck and arm holes are edged in silk ribbon. The lining in the bottom part of the waistcoat is cream silk (because it could have been seen when worn due to the side and back flaps) whereas the upper part is lined with linen. All original metallic thread covered buttons (on wooden forms) are present although some have lost their metallic thread covers. 
 
The cream silk ground is soiled and scuffed in some places and there are a few small holes. The ribbon neck and arm hole edging is worn in places as is some of the bottom edge of the waistcoat. The lining has some holes and has scattered staining. 
 
When I purchased this, some of the couched metal threads (the vines or around birds, flowers) had come undone—couching stitches can easily unravel. I reattached these threads to the ground in the same places they were originally, again using couching stitches. This work can be seen on the lining side of the garment and is easily reversible - although I don’t know why anyone would want to reverse it! 
 
The length from the back center neck is approximately 23.25”. The waist is roughly 26.5”.