Aren't
they a pretty set? I love the colours.
The
dresses these ladies are wearing are called crinolines. Ladies in the
second half of 19th century wore dresses that were stiffened by circular
frames worn beneath their voluminous skirts. Sitting
down was a complicated process!
In the 1930's and
1940's there was a fashion for decorative articles depicting ladies
wearing crinolines. You can often find embroidered cloths showing ladies
in crinolines walking in flower gardens. I think this set was made
around that time.