Madam Jean Reynaud de St. Felix (Anna Marie), grandmother of Portland resident Julia St. Felix Thaxter, wore this dress to a grand civic ball in Philadelphia on October 4, 1824. The occasion was in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette of Revolutionary War fame, and attended by as many as 1,700 people.

Madam de St. Felix was 26 years old at the time of the ball. Her dress was made of a fine, transparent Indian cotton muslin with hand-stitched white work embroidery. The inner bodice pieces are missing from this dress. The back is open and has a drawstring tie closure at the neck and waist.

The piece is a good example of the small change dresses underwent in the early 1820s, as skirt bottoms widened and waistlines began to drop.