Textiles

The 50,000 objects in the textile collections fall into two main categories: raw fibers, yarns, and fabrics, and machines, tools, and other textile technology. Shawls, coverlets, samplers, laces, linens, synthetics, and other fabrics are part of the first group, along with the 400 quilts in the National Quilt Collection. Some of the Museum's most popular artifacts, such as the Star-Spangled Banner and the gowns of the first ladies, have an obvious textile connection.

The machinery and tools include spinning wheels, sewing machines, thimbles, needlework tools, looms, and an invention that changed the course of American agriculture and society. A model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made by the inventor in the early 1800s, shows the workings of a machine that helped make cotton plantations profitable in the South and encouraged the spread of slavery.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.176
catalog number
033675.176
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.175
catalog number
033675.175
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.027
catalog number
033675.027
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.014
catalog number
033675.014
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.022
catalog number
033675.022
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.043
catalog number
033675.043
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.040
catalog number
033675.040
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.009
catalog number
033675.009
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.006
catalog number
033675.006
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.177
catalog number
033675.177
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.033
catalog number
033675.033
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.032
catalog number
033675.032
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.023
catalog number
033675.023
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.037
catalog number
033675.037
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.004
catalog number
033675.004
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.174
catalog number
033675.174
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.029
catalog number
033675.029
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.039
catalog number
033675.039
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.035
catalog number
033675.035
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.045
catalog number
033675.045
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.030
catalog number
033675.030
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
1860-10-00
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.001
catalog number
033675.001
accession number
70138
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.018
catalog number
033675.018
accession number
70138
This coverlet features horizontal color banding in stripes of red, green, muted aqua, and muted purple. A large scalloped floral medallion dominates the centerfield design. The four corners have faces of Washington flanked by confronted horses.
Description
This coverlet features horizontal color banding in stripes of red, green, muted aqua, and muted purple. A large scalloped floral medallion dominates the centerfield design. The four corners have faces of Washington flanked by confronted horses. Below Washington’s portrait bust is a banderole with his name. Under this is an eagle in flight with a banderole in its beak proclaiming, “Hail 1869,” and beneath that, tucked into each corner is a steamboat flying the American flag. In the middle of the border designs is an onion-domed rendition of the Capitol Building. Factory produced coverlet. Floral scrollwork and birds unite the border design. Although this coverlet is unsigned, it is identical to one signed by Philip Schum’s Lancaster Carpet, Coverlet, Quilt, and Yarn Manufactory. This coverlet measures 88 inches by 73 inches and has no center seam. It was likely produced on a power loom with a Jacquard attachment.
Philip Schum (1814-1880) was born In Hesse-Darmstadt, Holy Roman Empire. He immigrated to New York, moving to Lancaster County, PA in approximately 1844. He was not trained as a weaver and there is no evidence that he ever was. What we do know is that Philip Schum was a savvy businessman. He worked first as a "Malt Tramper" in New York, a position presumably linked to brewing and malting of grains. After six months, Philip was able to afford to bring his first wife Ana Margartha Bond (1820-1875) to join him in Pennsylvania. Once reunited, Philip worked as a day laborer, shoemaker, and basket-maker. He purchased a small general store in Lancaster City in 1852. By 1856, he has built his business enough to sell at a profit and purchase the Lancaster Carpet, Coverlet, Quilt, and Yarn Manufactory. Philip's first wife, Anna, passed away sometime before 1879, because in this year, Philip married his second wife, Anna Margaret Koch (1834-1880). The two were tragically killed in a train accident in 1880, when a locomotive stuck their horse and buggy. The New Era, a local Lancaster newspaper titled the article about the incident with the headline, "Death's Harvest." Lancaster Carpet, Coverlet, Quilt, and Yarn Manufactory began with just one or two looms and four men. It grew to four looms and eight men quickly. By 1875, the factory had twenty looms and employed forty men. Philip Schum was no weaver. He was an entrepreneur and businessman who invested in the growing market for household textiles. Philip's estate inventory included a carpet shop, weaving shop, dye house, two stores, and a coal yard. At the time of his death were also listed 390 "Half-wool coverlets." These were valued at $920. In 1878, Philip partnered with his son, John E. Schum to form, Philip Schum, Son, and Co. Another Schum coverlet is in the collections of the MFA-Houston.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
date made
second half 19th century
1869
maker
Schum, Philip
ID Number
1997.0375.01
accession number
1997.0375

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