Coat, opera coat

Opera coat of red and gold brocade in Chinoiserie cloud patterns, lined in rabbit fur dyed to look like brown mink. It was made by Bradley's, a furrier in Notting Hill Gate. The coat was originally owned by Eva Collett Reckitt. Her wealthy family manufactured Reckitt's Blue, a laundry whitener used by housewives throughout the UK. Eva was a life long supporter of the Communist Party and founded Collett's Socialist Bookshop in Charing Cross Road. In 1938 she gave the coat to Margaret Allen as a present for her 21st birthday. Margaret kept the coat until it was acquired by the Museum of London in 2008.