This printed cotton dress was worn by Helen Levack Mowat (1791-1873), who was the wife of a Kingston merchant named John Mowat (1791-1860). The Romantic style of this dress and its material date to approximately 1825, and it is possible that Levack purchased the dress material through her husband’s business and took it to a local dressmaker. However, she could have purchased the dress finished, as fashionable clothing was available in Kingston at the time. Given that Upper Canada was oriented to Britain, which imposed imperial trade policies on its colonies, it is fair to assume that dress fabric, if not the dress itself, was manufactured in Britain. The cotton seems to have been roller-printed, making it an early example of this technology. The floral motif is evidentially inspired by Les Roses (1817-24), a popular folio of rose illustrations by Pierre-Joseph Redoute (1759-1840).