Textiles - Overview
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.
"Textiles - Overview" showing 70 items.
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Sarah Hoopes' Sampler
- Description
- This sampler features nine rectangles that are outlined by cross-stitch and satin sawtooth bands. The center and corner rectangles contain flowers and strawberries with some worked in crinkled silk. The flower and strawberry motifs on this sampler indicate nature and a perfect fruit: the strawberry has no rind or pit to throw away. The verses and inscription are in the remaining four rectangles, reading from the top center, to the right center, to the left center, back to the lower part of the right center, and then to the bottom center, resulting in jumps from one rectangle to another where words did not fit the space. The words are worked in green and yellow thread, except for the name “Phebe Hoopes,” which is worked in the only black thread used on the sampler. The inscriptions are:
“Waz[s]h Lord ANd
PUrIFY MY Heart
ANd MaKe It CleaN
IN EVerY Part ANd
WheN It IS CleaN
LOrd KeeP It SO
FOr That IS MOre
ThaN I CaN DO
The LOSS OF TIMe
IS MUCh The LOSS
OF Truth IS MOre
The LOSS OF ChrISt
IS SUCh That NO
MaN CaN ReStOre
POOR State of JaCob
Here It SeeMS TO Me
The CattLe FOUNd
AS SOFt A Bed AS He
Yet GOd APPeared
There HIS JOY ANd
CrOWN GOd IS NOt
ALwaYS FOUNd ON
BedS OF DOWN
The Bed WaS
Earth The RaIsed
PILLar StONe
WhereON POOR
JaCOb ReSt HIS
Head ALONe
HeaVeN WaS HIS
CaNOPY The Shades
OF NIGht WaS
HIS DraWN CUrtaIN
TO EXCLUde The
LIGht ThIS WOrK
IN HaND MY FrIeNdS
MaY HaVe WHeN I aM
IN The SILeNt GraVe
Sarah HOOPes
DauGhter OF Abram
ANd SUSaNNa HooPeS
Her WOrK doN
IN The 14th Year OF
Her AGe 1799
ReeSe HOOPeS
DaNIeL HOOPeS
ALICe HOOPeS
Phebe HOOPeS
AP EJ(?) PH SH”
- The four verses that Sarah Hoopes included reflect the emphasis of her time on piety and the brevity of life. Even though Sarah’s sampler came to the Smithsonian in poor condition, it is important to the study of these compartmented verse and flower samplers that were worked only in Philadelphia. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 51, weft 46/in. The stitches used are cross, satin, stem, and outline.
- Sarah Hoopes was born on December 25, 1785, to Abraham (1755-1807) and Susanna McNees (1752-1834) Hoopes of Newtown, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Her father was a shoemaker. She lists the names of her two brothers, Reese and Daniel, and her two sisters, Alice and Phebe, on her sampler. There are other initials under Phebe’s name. She died unmarried.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1799
- maker
- Hoopes, Sarah
- ID Number
- TE*T11163
- catalog number
- T11163
- accession number
- 203959
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Margaret Arndt's Sampler
- Description
- At bottom of the sampler is an unfinished two-story house with two baskets and an urn of flowers, on a ground of straight stitches shaded like Florentine patterns. Margaret Arndt stitched a common proverb that reflected the importance at that time of one’s salvation in Christ. The inscription reads:
“The LOSE of a FaThEr IS MUSh
BUT The LOZE OF a MOTher IS MOOR
BUT the LOSE OF ChrIST IS SUCh
AS NONe CAN RE STOre
DONe IN MY AELEVe
Nth YeAr OF my
Age the YeAr OF
OUR LOrd ONe ThOUSaNd 1815
Margaret Arndt”
- The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 27, weft 29/in. The stitches used are cross, chain, Algerian eye, satin, stem, outline, buttonhole, straight, crosslet, slanted gobelin, and hem.
- Margaret Arndt, born ca. 1804 in Pennsylvania, married on June 11, 1833, as the second wife of Henry DeHuff (1794 - 1854). They had six children - Catherine (c.1834-), Jacob A. (c.1836-), Abraham (c.1838-), Anna (1840-), Susannah (c.1845-), and John (c.1848-).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1815
- maker
- Arndt, Margaret
- ID Number
- TE*T16418
- catalog number
- T16418
- accession number
- 304266
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1840 - 1860 Catherine Byer's Pieced and Appliqued Quilt
- Description
- Inked leaves and a bird frame the inscription: “Eby – Byers Catherine Byers” and the place, “Chambersburg.” Below Chambersburg is noted "1837," but in a different color ink---possibly a later addition? Did Catherine make this quilt?
- Catherine Byers, born in 1805, was the daughter of Frederick Byers and Anna Eby of Pa. Catherine married James Crawford (1799-1872). They raised their children and lived on the family homestead in Franklin County, Pa. Catherine died in 1892. Both came from families who were early settlers of Pennsylvania, some of whom had fought in the Revolutionary War.
- Thirty-six pieced blocks, each with a center square of dark blue printed cotton and three appliquéd leaves at each corner create a unique pattern. The central focus is the 9 ¾-inch-block with the inked drawing and inscription. The quilt is framed by a 6-inch border and is quilted at 10 stitches per inch. As no information was included with the quilt, it is difficult to know who made the quilt and the significance of the date.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840-1860
- maker
- Byers, Catherine
- ID Number
- 1980.0253.01
- catalog number
- 1980.0253.01
- accession number
- 1980.0253
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1900 - 1915 Amish "Garden of Eden" Quilt
- Description
- Quilted in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania in the early twentieth century, this is an example of the “Garden of Eden” or “Economy Block” quilt pattern. A center of twenty pieced and plain 20-inch square blocks is framed by a “Chain Square” and two plain borders. Plain-colored cotton and wool fabrics and black quilting thread contribute to its quiet elegance.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1900-1915
- quilter
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1985.0029.01
- catalog number
- 1985.0029.01
- accession number
- 1985.0029
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1900 - 1925 Amish "Bars" Quilt
- Description
- Quilted in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the early part of the twentieth century, this seemingly simple pattern of bars set in a contrasting color typifies Amish quilting. The center is composed of eleven burgundy and blue strips of wool-and-cotton fabric, which vary in width from 6 inches to 7-inches, set in a frame of blue. The corners of the border are mitered. The blue bars and borders are quilted in a cable pattern, and the burgundy bars in a chevron pattern. The skillful quilting is done with rose and blue cotton thread. It is a classic rendering of a traditional Amish pattern.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1900-1925
- quilter
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1985.0029.04
- catalog number
- 1985.0029.04
- accession number
- 1985.0029
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1900 - 1925 Amish "Hanging Diamond" Quilt
- Description
- Quilted in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the early twentieth century, this is a beautiful example of Amish quilting utilizing a traditional pattern. The dark red 25½-inch center diamond with a 3¾-inch purple border is set diagonally into a 46¼-inch square also with a 3¾-inch border. Framed by an outer 11¾-inch border, the quilt is finished with a wide contrasting binding of dark blue. The fabrics are mainly wool, wool-and-cotton, and some rayon. An 8-pointed star, feathered circles, vines, and scallops are motifs quilted with black cotton to complete this quilt.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1900-1925
- quilter
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1985.0029.05
- catalog number
- 1985.0029.05
- accession number
- 1985.0029
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1900 - 1925 Amish "Crazy-patch Block" Quilt
- Description
- The maker of this Amish quilt, probably from Pennsylvania, effectively utilizes sixteen 8½-inch crazy-patched and embroidered blocks set diagonally to create this dramatic example. The crazy-patched blocks are contrasted with blue and framed within a 4½-inch light rose border with lavender corner squares and a 10-inch darker rose border. Pieces in the crazy-patch blocks are outlined with polychrome silk embroidery in herringbone, feather, buttonhole, thorn, cross, and double-cross stitches. The fabrics are wool and wool-and-cotton. The initials “AK” are embroidered on a corner of the lining. The controlled use of the crazy-patch aesthetic in this quilt gives it an ordered, focused appearance.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- First quarter 20th century
- date made
- 1900-1925
- quilter
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1985.0029.06
- catalog number
- 1985.0029.06
- accession number
- 1985.0029
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
M. A. Hofman's Sampler
- Description
- Flowers, people, building with fence, crossbands, inscriptions. Top and sides have floral border with eight-pointed star at center top. German alphabet of capitals, no "J." Script alphabet of capitals, no "J." Lower-case alphabet has both "I" and "J" with "w, x, y, and z" smaller than rest of alphabet to make them fit. Silk embroidery thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, satin. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 26/in
- Inscriptions:
- "School No 7"
"M. A. Hofman
Carlisle
1848"
- Background:
- Public schools were established in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1836, and needlework and sampler making were part of the curriculum. After grade three, the girls and boys where separated and went to different schools. For the girls, one afternoon each week was devoted to needlework. There are samplers in existence from School No. 7 and School No. 8. It is thought this work was done under the tutelage of Miss Fanny Webber, who taught from 1836 to 1863. M. A. Hofman has not yet been identified.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1848
- maker
- Hofman, M. A.
- ID Number
- 1998.0130.01
- catalog number
- 1998.0130.01
- accession number
- 1998.0130
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hausman Coverlet
- Description
- Benjamin Hausman, (1795—1885) of Allentown, Pennsylvania, wove this cotton and wool Jacquard double-woven coverlet for Jane Paul in 1841. His name and hers appear in the lower corners along with the date. The coverlet is Jacquard double-woven with floral medallions and stars, as the overall pattern, and with a border of trees and flowers. It has no center seam. Several members of the Hausman family were coverlet weavers in Pennsylvania in the 19th century. Benjamin worked in Allentown, Lehigh County, from 1836 to 1845, and in York, York County, from 1847 to 1848. He appears to have moved to Philadelphia in 1852, but is listed as a coverlet weaver in the 1850 census of York, York County, Pennsylvania.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1841
- owner of coverlet in 19th century
- Paul, Jane
- maker
- Hausman, Benjamin
- ID Number
- TE*E.393749
- accession number
- 211601
- catalog number
- E.393749
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Elizabeth Mason's Sampler
- Description
- Three block alphabets. No "J"; numbers to 18 and to 9; alphabets and numbers colored in groups of two. Rows of lettering and numbers separated by geometric crossbands; also two wide crossbands; one geometric strawberry vine, and one geometric vine with free-style roses, with guide-lines drawn under roses. At bottom of sampler, stag and doe on hillocks, surrounded by birds, butterflies, trees, flowers, under angular garland; stag and doe have satin-stitched collars. Name and date appear in flower-shaped medallion hanging from garland. Border of band of sawtoothed satin stitch and geometric carnation vine on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, stem, satin, Algerian eye, straight, bullion. THREAD COUNT: warp 36, weft 29/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "See How The Lillief[s] Flour White And Fair
See How the Ravenf[s] Fed From Heavenf[s] Air
- Arif[s]e Thou King of Kingf[s] Arif[s]e And Reign
Except Thy Worf[s]hip SprinG All Worf[s]hipf[s] Vain
- Elizabeth
Maf[s]On her
WOrk Ma
de
in the 11
Year Of
her ag
1783"
- Background:
- Elizabeth Mason was probably from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1783
- maker
- Mason, Elizabeth
- ID Number
- TE*E391808
- catalog number
- E391808
- accession number
- 71679
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center