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.

ID Number
1990.0656.05
accession number
1990.0656
A sewing bird is a type of needlework table clamp that supports a bird on its top. The lower body of the bird is stationary while the upper body is hinged, and there is a spring in the tail.
Description
A sewing bird is a type of needlework table clamp that supports a bird on its top. The lower body of the bird is stationary while the upper body is hinged, and there is a spring in the tail. When the upper and lower tail ends are squeezed together, the beak opens, allowing the edge of a fabric to be placed in it. When the tail is released, the beak closes on the fabric, holding it securely while the sewer pulls it taut for stitching a hem or seam. This particular type of sewing bird, credited to Charles Waterman of Meridian Connecticut, dates from the 1850s and was used for plain sewing rather than fancy needlework. The daguerreotype itself also dates from the mid-19th century, although the maker and subjects are unknown.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Mid-19th Century
maker
unknown
ID Number
2004.0116.01
accession number
2004.0116
catalog number
2004.0116.01

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