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.

Brussels bobbin lace motifs applied to handmade Droschel bobbin lace net from the early 19th century.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Brussels bobbin lace motifs applied to handmade Droschel bobbin lace net from the early 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1815
ID Number
TE.L7016
Date made
1823-12
ID Number
CS.228001.1609
catalog number
228001.1609
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1817
ID Number
CS.228001.1604
catalog number
228001.1604
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1860-12
bequest of
James, Catalina Juliana Mason Myers
ID Number
CS.033675.002
catalog number
033675.002
accession number
70138
Date made
1817-11
ID Number
CS.228001.0021
catalog number
228001.0021
This is a blue and white, plain weave double coverlet executed in geometric block weave pattern. The pattern is most commonly known as “Whig Rose.” There is a "Pine Tree" border along three sides created from a fractional reduction and lengthening of the main pattern.
Description
This is a blue and white, plain weave double coverlet executed in geometric block weave pattern. The pattern is most commonly known as “Whig Rose.” There is a "Pine Tree" border along three sides created from a fractional reduction and lengthening of the main pattern. The weaver used natural colored linen with olive green and indigo (blue) colored wool. The coverlet measures 82 inches by 79 inches. The coverlet is constructed of two panels each 34.5 inches wide. The weaver would have woven both panels as one length, cut that length in half, and sewn the panels together to create the finished width. There is a five inch long woven fringe with a half inch heading applied to the sides of coverlet, and there is a five inch self-fringe along the lower edge. The coverlet was initially purchased in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania and it is likely that it was woven in Pennsylvania sometime during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
late 18th century
early 19th century
1800-1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T18271
catalog number
T18271.000
accession number
1977.0107
This Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet was woven for Sally Loper in Westbury, Long Island, New York in 1817. This is the oldest known dated Figured and Fancy coverlet. The centerfield design is composed of rows of pine trees and tulips.
Description
This Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet was woven for Sally Loper in Westbury, Long Island, New York in 1817. This is the oldest known dated Figured and Fancy coverlet. The centerfield design is composed of rows of pine trees and tulips. The borders found on all four sides were created from directional fractional reductions of the centerfield motifs. The name of the owner Sally Loper, and the date, December 2, 1817, are woven into the upper right hand corner. The place, Westbury, Long Island, is also woven opposite the name. The coverlet measures 88.5 inches by 81 inches and was constructed from two panels woven as one length, cut, and seamed up the middle. Sarah (Sally) Bishop Loper (b. 1780) was married to Luther Loper (b. 1780). The coverlet passed to their daughter, Elmirah Jane Loper Pine, her daughter, Edna Pine Dunning, and finally to her daughter, the donor, Jane Dunning Dirks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1817-12-02
1817
owner
Loper, Sarah Bishop
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15535
catalog number
T15535.000
accession number
294367
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
ID Number
TE.T14490.00C
catalog number
T14490.00C
accession number
277490
This all-white, cotton, overshot coverlet contains a woven inscription which reads, "1811 M.F.” The coverlet has a plain weave ground, with one pattern weft inserted between each ground weft. The coverlet is made of two panels, woven as one length, cut, and sewn together.
Description
This all-white, cotton, overshot coverlet contains a woven inscription which reads, "1811 M.F.” The coverlet has a plain weave ground, with one pattern weft inserted between each ground weft. The coverlet is made of two panels, woven as one length, cut, and sewn together. It appears to have a hemmed upper edge, with applied fringe on both sides and the lower edge. The thread count is 28 warp ends x 32 weft ends per inch. The coverlet measures 80 inches by 71.75 inches. It was likely woven by a New England woman for use in her home.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1811
maker
unknown
ID Number
1981.0274.07
accession number
1981.0274
catalog number
1981.0274.07
Border or cuff with motifs in cartouches, alternating ML for Mary Louise, wife of Napoleon, and bees, which was the symbol for Napoleon. Alençon needle lace motifs on Droschel bobbin lace ground from the early 19th century.Currently not on view
Description
Border or cuff with motifs in cartouches, alternating ML for Mary Louise, wife of Napoleon, and bees, which was the symbol for Napoleon. Alençon needle lace motifs on Droschel bobbin lace ground from the early 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1810-1814
ID Number
TE.L7691
catalog number
L7691.000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1818
ID Number
CS.228001.0197
catalog number
228001.0197
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1810-11
ID Number
CS.033675.205
catalog number
033675.205
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1816-11
ID Number
CS.244128.097
catalog number
244128.097
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1816
ID Number
CS.228001.0165
catalog number
228001.0165
This blue and white, "Chariot Wheel" patterned, overshot coverlet was a bequest to the National Museum in 1934 from the Misses Long, and had been on loan to the Smithsonian’s collection since 1910.
Description
This blue and white, "Chariot Wheel" patterned, overshot coverlet was a bequest to the National Museum in 1934 from the Misses Long, and had been on loan to the Smithsonian’s collection since 1910. One of the earliest coverlets in the collection, it was initially termed a counterpane. The coverlet was part of "The Arts of the Thread" exhibit in the Textile Room at the National Museum (A&I). The Misses Long were sisters living in the Washington, D.C. area and important benefactors of the Smithsonian at the end of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century. This coverlet is just one of many objects left by the sisters after their deaths. The coverlet is made of cotton and wool with two-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton warp yarns and Z-spun cotton singles making up the weft. The ground cloth is a plain or tabby weave, and the supplementary float patterning uses a high-twist, Z-spun woolen yarn that has been dyed blue almost certainly with indigo. The coverlet, like all coverlets not woven on a broad loom, has a center seam. The coverlet would have been woven as one 32-inch-wide length, cut in half, then folded back on itself and seamed up the middle, making the whole coverlet 64 inches wide. The use of cotton in the warp dates the coverlet to 1790 at the earliest. The 1825 end date was chosen, because the introduction of the Jacquard patterning mechanism all but replaced traditional overshot patterning in many regions of the United States.
date made
1800-1816
c. 1790-1825
ID Number
TE.L6951
accession number
113420
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
ID Number
TE.T14490.00D
catalog number
T14490.00D
accession number
277490
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
mismarked on object
1818
Date made
1821
ID Number
CS.228001.0195
catalog number
228001.0195
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1815
ID Number
TE.T15595
catalog number
T15595
accession number
295413
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
ID Number
TE.T14490.00A
catalog number
T14490.00A
accession number
277490
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1818
mismarked on object
1817
ID Number
CS.228001.0188
catalog number
228001.0188
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1819
ID Number
CS.228001.0217
catalog number
228001.0217
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
ID Number
TE.T14490.00E
catalog number
T14490.00E
accession number
277490
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1809-11
ID Number
CS.228001.0112
catalog number
228001.0112
Scarf or stole with bobbin lace garlands on Droschel bobbin lace gound. Brussels style lace from the late 18th centuryCurrently not on view
Description
Scarf or stole with bobbin lace garlands on Droschel bobbin lace gound. Brussels style lace from the late 18th century
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1790-1810
ID Number
TE.L7678
catalog number
L7678.000
accession number
58000

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