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.

After a young lady learned to embroider a sampler, she might attend a female academy to make a silk embroidered picture. This was a more challenging technique that became popular in the early 1800s.
Description
After a young lady learned to embroider a sampler, she might attend a female academy to make a silk embroidered picture. This was a more challenging technique that became popular in the early 1800s. Subjects included classical, biblical, and historical scenes, as well as mourning pictures. The death of George Washington gave impetus to this new fad of the mourning picture. The genre included an assortment of plinths, urn, mourners, and trees in a garden setting.
This mourning embroidery by Mary Gorham was dedicated to her father, Capt. Isaac Gorham. The pastoral image shows a woman approaching an urn on a plinth that rests beneath a three-branched weeping willow. The large gold urn, outlined in brown and garlanded with flowers, carries on its marble-simulated silk embroidered pedestal the inked inscription: "Cap.t Isaac / Gorham born / Feb.y 15 . 1747 . died / Aug.t. 13. 1795. aged / 48." The young woman, in a white Regency costume with a brown bow, stands to the right of the urn. Her bonnet is completed in black ink; her features and curls are inked in brown; one arm is outlined in graphite, and the other is barely visible behind a willow branch. The picture is in the original gold leaf frame, and the glass is reverse-painted in black, with gold leaf motifs in each corner and a 1/4" gold rim around the oval mourning picture with the maker's name, "M. GORHAM," at the bottom. It is stitched on a plain weave ivory silk ground with silk embroidery threads. The stitches are seed, lazy daisy, straight, satin, and outline.
This example includes the typical objects found in mourning embroideries: a garden, weeping willow trees, a woman in mourning, and an urn on a plinth. The willow tree is a symbol of mourning and sorrow as well as a tree that drains the ground of water, thereby keeping the site dry. Capt. Isaac Gorham was a mariner and he died at sea.
Mary Gorham was born December 10, 1791, to Isaac and Sarah Thomas Gorham in Bristol, Rhode Island. She married Rev. John P. K. Henshaw(1792-1852) on July 19, 1814. They had eleven children: John Kewley (1815-1843), Alexander (1817-1854), Mary Gorham (1819-1888), William Milnor (1820-1850), Rev. Daniel (1822-1908), Charles Henry (1825-1825), Elizabeth W. (1826-1826), I. Gorham (1828-1828), Charles Henry (1830-1910), Richmond (1833-1890), and Sarah (1831-1832). Mary died September 26, 1881, in Bristol, Rhode Island. See her older sister Jemina Gorham’s sampler.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1805
maker
Gorham, Mary
Gorham, Mary
ID Number
2007.0156.01
accession number
2007.0156
catalog number
2007.0156.01
Date made
1809-06
ID Number
CS.033675.206
catalog number
033675.206
The date 1789 and two letters (no longer readable) are embroidered into this double-woven coverlet in cross-stitch. The pattern features a variation of the "Pine Tree" motif in the border, and repetitive squares and diamonds in the center.
Description
The date 1789 and two letters (no longer readable) are embroidered into this double-woven coverlet in cross-stitch. The pattern features a variation of the "Pine Tree" motif in the border, and repetitive squares and diamonds in the center. Three of the four edges have an applied fringe. The coverlet is believed to have been made by a member of the Brown family of the village of Emilie, Pennsylvania, and received by the donor from his mother's father, Henry C. Brown (1848—-1921). He obtained it from his father, John B. Brown, of Emilie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The maker of the coverlet is unknown.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1785-1800
ID Number
TE.T7878
catalog number
T07878.000
accession number
142620
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 red and white, cotton and wool, overshot coverlet comes from the Copp Family collection of Stonington, Connecticut and was woven sometime between 1790 and 1800.
Description
This red and white, cotton and wool, overshot coverlet comes from the Copp Family collection of Stonington, Connecticut and was woven sometime between 1790 and 1800. The pattern is a variation of the “Monk’s Belt” pattern most commonly known as “Braddock’s Defeat.” The coverlet is constructed of a natural linen warp, natural cotton weft, and madder-dyed, red wool supplementary weft yarnsThe coverlet is composed of three panels woven as one length, cut, and seamed with a 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun, linen thread. This a 2.75 inch looped fringe is attached to three sides. The coverlet is a rare example of early imported spun cotton threads being used in weaving. The cotton yarns were not yet strong enough for use as warp threads, but here serve as the ground cloth weft threads.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
early 19th century
probably late 18th century
date made
c. 1770-1800
c. 1790-1800
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.H6675
catalog number
H006675.000
accession number
28810
This brown and white, overshot coverlet has been separated into its two panels. Whether this is due to use or because of early-20th-century Colonial Revival repurposing as portieres or curtains is unknown.
Description
This brown and white, overshot coverlet has been separated into its two panels. Whether this is due to use or because of early-20th-century Colonial Revival repurposing as portieres or curtains is unknown. The pattern is a variation of a pattern known as “Granite State.” Each panel measures 102 inches by 42 inches, making the whole coverlet measure 102 inches by 84 inches. There is no evidence of fringe and the top and bottom edges are hemmed. The coverlet is composed of a linen warp, cotton ground weft, and brown wool, supplementary pattern weft. The use of linen in the warp indicates a likely late-eighteenth-century manufacture date as industrially-spun cotton was not strong enough to be used in the warp until the start of the nineteenth century. There is evidence in the accession file to suggest that this coverlet was made and passed down through the Babcock family of Rhode Island, but more research is needed to confirm the attribution.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
early 19th century
date made
late 18th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12598
accession number
220211
catalog number
T12598
Border, Point d'Angleterre bobbin lace with Droschel ground going in different directions. Linen. Mid 18th C. Floral motifs with 6 3/4" length pattern repeat. Scalloped border with picots.Currently not on view
Description
Border, Point d'Angleterre bobbin lace with Droschel ground going in different directions. Linen. Mid 18th C. Floral motifs with 6 3/4" length pattern repeat. Scalloped border with picots.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Mid 18th C
ID Number
TE.T14364
catalog number
T14364.000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 18th century
ID Number
1981.0113.22
catalog number
1981.0113.22
accession number
1981.0113
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
ID Number
TE.T16270B
catalog number
T16270.00B
accession number
300957
Linen border fragment in Point d'Angleterre bobbin lace. Ca. 1750-1780. Part lace with Droschel ground added after the motifs were made. Floral band goes diagonally across the border. Small scallops with picots. 1/4" entre-deux added.Currently not on view
Description
Linen border fragment in Point d'Angleterre bobbin lace. Ca. 1750-1780. Part lace with Droschel ground added after the motifs were made. Floral band goes diagonally across the border. Small scallops with picots. 1/4" entre-deux added.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775-1800
ID Number
TE.T14365
catalog number
T14365.000
Brussels bobbin lace sprigs applied to handmade Droschel ground probably from the late 18th century.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Brussels bobbin lace sprigs applied to handmade Droschel ground probably from the late 18th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1805
ID Number
TE.L7696
catalog number
L7696.000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 18th century
ID Number
TE.T13868
catalog number
T13868.000
accession number
266231
This Gros Point de Venise needle lace has been remodeled into collar. The elaborate three-dimensional floral motifs and scrolls are edged with a woven braid at the neck edge and a narrow bobbin lace edging at the outside edge.
Description (Brief)
This Gros Point de Venise needle lace has been remodeled into collar. The elaborate three-dimensional floral motifs and scrolls are edged with a woven braid at the neck edge and a narrow bobbin lace edging at the outside edge. The original early 18th century lace has been pieced together and repaired from good quality needle lace. The repairs are crude, and made with a different color thread, but create a nice overall effect. This is one of many laces Mrs. Pinchot collected for the Smithsonian to show samples of various types of lace.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Early 18th century
Associated Name
Pinchot, Mary Eno
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.L6507
catalog number
L6507
Date made
1823-01
ID Number
CS.228001.0277
catalog number
228001.0277
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2nd part, 18th century
Miss Virginia Livingston Hunt
ID Number
TE.T11839
catalog number
T11839.000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775-1800
ID Number
2013.0121.49
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.49
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1822-01
ID Number
CS.228001.0253
catalog number
228001.0253
White on white embroidered muslin collar with Mechlin bobbin lace border with Fond d'Armour 12-thread ground from the late 18th century.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
White on white embroidered muslin collar with Mechlin bobbin lace border with Fond d'Armour 12-thread ground from the late 18th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 18th century
ID Number
TE.L6901
catalog number
L6901.000
accession number
50762
Flemish bobbin lace border from the early 18th century. The threads from the ground are carried on the back of motifs between grounds on either side of the tapesCurrently not on view
Description
Flemish bobbin lace border from the early 18th century. The threads from the ground are carried on the back of motifs between grounds on either side of the tapes
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 18th C
ID Number
TE.L7669
catalog number
L7669.000
accession number
58000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th C
ID Number
TE.T14323A
catalog number
T14323.00A
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
Late 18th C
ID Number
TE.T16231
catalog number
T16231.000
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1st quarter 18th century
ID Number
TE.T11961
catalog number
T11961.000
Date made
1823-01
ID Number
CS.228001.0275
catalog number
228001.0275
Collar in 18th C. Brussels Louis XV style bobbin lace showing the French influence with the figures. It is illustrated in Jourdain’s OLD LACE, p. 47, plate LIII. The lace has been remodeled into a collar or small cape and mended.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Collar in 18th C. Brussels Louis XV style bobbin lace showing the French influence with the figures. It is illustrated in Jourdain’s OLD LACE, p. 47, plate LIII. The lace has been remodeled into a collar or small cape and mended.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th C
ID Number
TE.L7157
catalog number
L7157.000
accession number
51813

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