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. It included an assortment of plinth, urn, mourners, and trees in a garden setting.
This square embroidered picture depicts a young girl weeping, kneeling beside a plinth topped by an urn beneath a weeping willow tree. There was once an inscription glued on the plinth, but it is now missing from the oval. The girl is dressed in an ivory and pale gold Empire style dress with lacy edging around the square neck. The embroidered weeping figure, plinth, chenille tree and chenille ground are surrounded by painted water. A gold inscription on a black mat at the bottom says, “Wrought by Sophia W. Childs, Charleston, 1827.” It is stitched on a plain weave ivory silk ground with silk floss and chenille. The stitches are satin, long and short, laid, and straight.
This mourning embroidery contains the usual motifs of a plinth with an urn, weeping willow trees and a young lady mourning. The Regency style dress would have been the dress of the period and helps to date the picture.
Sophia Wyman Childs married Jeremiah Holmes Kimball (1802-1849) of Woburn, Massachusetts, on February 24, 1828. She died sometime before November 1832, when Jeremiah wed Jerusha Ann Richardson.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1827
associated date
1964-12
maker
Childs, Sophia Wyman
ID Number
TE.T19319
accession number
256396
catalog number
T19319
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.
A Roman lady, with her three children, is depicted with a seated Roman matron holding a box of jewels. The standing lady holds the hand of the youngest child, who is admiring a brooch, and gestures toward her other two children - a boy carrying a scroll on which the letters “ABC” are visible, and a slightly older girl carrying a slate. The heads, arms, legs, and feet of the figures, the background sky, and the bushes are painted. Below the picture, embroidered in black silk stem stitch, is the inscription, "THESE ARE MY JEWELS." It has a glass mat reverse-painted white with a 5/8" gold, black, and violet geometric band. At the lower edge, in gold are the words, "WROUGHT by LYDIA BOWLES AUSTIN at MRS. SAUNDERS & MISS BEACH'S ACADEMY." The picture is worked on a plain-weave ivory silk ground with silk embroidery threads and is lined with linen. The stitches are satin, split, outline, and chain.
The title of the embroidery is taken from a Roman legend which tells of Cornelia, with her children, visiting a wealthy Roman lady who proudly displays her collection of jewelry and then asks to see Cornelia's jewelry. To this Cornelia replies "These are my jewels," indicating her children. The picture is a copy of an engraving by Bartolozzi, entitled "Cornelia Mother of the Gracchi" which was published in London in 1788, copied from a painting by Angelica Kauffmann.
In 1803 Judith Foster Saunders and Clementina Beach moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts, and started a school for young ladies. They used the services of John Doggett for much of the framing of the needlework pieces. The framing included glass mats that had the name of the embroiderer as well as the name of the school, which has made it easy to identify pieces from their school.
Lydia Bowles Austin, daughter of Joseph and Lydia Bowles Austin of Boston, Massachusetts was born in 1792 and died unmarried in Boston on July 18, 1824. Her father was a baker.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Austin, Lydia Bowles
ID Number
1996.0125.01
catalog number
1996.0125.01
accession number
1996.0125
This quilt top has a binding, but no filling or lining. Perhaps it was meant to be lined and quilted; instead the edges were bound, making it a light-weight bedcover.
Description
This quilt top has a binding, but no filling or lining. Perhaps it was meant to be lined and quilted; instead the edges were bound, making it a light-weight bedcover. Pieced and appliquéd techniques provide the frame for a central panel that resembles a small sampler.
Delicate silk embroidery depicts a leafy harp surrounded by hearts, trees topped with red crested birds, potted plants, and the inscription, “Elenor Dolen Roxbury.” Most likely it refers to Roxbury, Massachusetts. The quilt top was donated by a collector of early American domestic furnishings.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E388875
accession number
182022
catalog number
E388875
Sewing Machine Patent Model . Patent No. 6439, issued May 8, 1849John Bachelder of Boston, Massachusetts.John Bachelder of Boston, Massachusetts, submitted this sewing machine patent model for his Patent No. 6439, which was granted on May 8, 1849.
Description
Sewing Machine Patent Model . Patent No. 6439, issued May 8, 1849
John Bachelder of Boston, Massachusetts.
John Bachelder of Boston, Massachusetts, submitted this sewing machine patent model for his Patent No. 6439, which was granted on May 8, 1849. Bachelder’s machine sewed with a chain-stitch. He did not claim this chain-stitch mechanism as it was patented earlier in February in 1849 by Charles Morey and Joseph B. Johnson of Massachusetts. Instead he focused on improving the cloth feed. On this model, Bachelder used a wide continuous leather belt inserted with sharp pins to hold the cloth and enable the leather belt to move the cloth forward as it was being sewn. After being stitched, the fabric would be disengaged from the points by a curved piece of metal. This was the first patent for a continuous sewing, intermittent feeding mechanism.
Although Bachelder did not manufacture his sewing machine, his patent and later reissues of it were bought by I. M. Singer, and became one of the central patents to form the Sewing Machine Combination in 1856. This organization consisted of three sewing machine manufacturers, I. M. Singer Co., Wheeler & Wilson Co., and the Grover & Baker Co., and the inventor, Elias Howe Jr., who all agreed to pool their important patents and stop patent litigations between them. This allowed them to move ahead with manufacturing and marketing of their own sewing machine and collect license fees from other companies wanting to use their patents.
Location
Currently not on view
model constructed
before 1849-05-08
patent date
1849-05-08
inventor
Bachelder, John
ID Number
TE.T06051
catalog number
T06051.000
patent number
006439
accession number
89797
Two block alphabets with no "J" or "U" with each letter in alphabets and each word in inscription different color.
Description
Two block alphabets with no "J" or "U" with each letter in alphabets and each word in inscription different color. Ten narrow decorative crossbands, three wide crossbands, and narrow geometric crossbands separating these and lettered rows; last crossband has row of strawberry(?) motifs against background solidly filled with cross stitches and first nine letters of lower-case alphabet. All four edges hemstitched with yellow silk thread. Wool and silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, two-sided cross, eyelet, marking cross, gobelin, satin, tent (petit-point), hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 46, weft 43/in.
Inscription:
"LYDIA DIC
KMaN IS MY NAMe AND ENGL
AND IS MY NATION aND BOST
ON IS MY DWeLLING PlaC aND
CHRIST IS MY SALVATION DON
e IN THIRTeeN YeAR OF MY
age 1735"
Background:
Lydia was born about 1722, and married Francis Shaw of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1745. They had one son, Thomas, who was born December 11, 1745. Lydia died in Boston on December 26, 1746, just a year after the birth of her son.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1735
maker
Dickman, Lydia
ID Number
TE.E388182-a
catalog number
E.388182-a
accession number
182022
“Mary W. Stow,” embroidered in red, is prominent on this patriotic quilt made of fabrics commemorating the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. The motifs were cut from bandannas that were printed as souvenirs of the event, and then appliquéd on white cotton.
Description
“Mary W. Stow,” embroidered in red, is prominent on this patriotic quilt made of fabrics commemorating the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. The motifs were cut from bandannas that were printed as souvenirs of the event, and then appliquéd on white cotton. Most of the motifs are edged with a button-hole stitch using red cotton. Printed fabrics with patriotic motifs were popular in America before the 1876 Centennial, but the major exhibition in Philadelphia provided textile companies with an incentive to produce many new fabrics for the event. Several of these can be found on the quilt.
The central motif depicts the Memorial Hall Art Gallery at the Centennial International Exhibition at Fairmont Park, Philadelphia. The Main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and the Horticultural Hall are circular motifs. These all originally appeared on one bandanna. There are flags of many nations, most likely cut from a printed textile. Cut-out portraits on printed fabric of George and Martha Washington, William Penn, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Ulysses Grant are among the motifs. Democratic candidates for president and vice-president, Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks, and their Republican counterparts, Rutherford Hayes and William A. Wheeler, appear in separate motifs.
Mary W. Stow lived in Wisconsin, and included on her quilt printed pictures of the capitol building at Madison, Wisconsin and Harrison Ludington (1812-1891), governor of Wisconsin from 1876 to 1878.
Motifs also include inked drawings of the Hingham, Massachusetts, First Meeting House, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Liberty Bell, the Charter Oak, Trinity Church, and Independence Hall. Several motifs have the printed or inked date “1876.”
The border makes use of patriotic colors. A 1½-inch inner band of blue striped cotton with white stars is framed by an outer 1¾-inch band of red cotton. Quilting, 9 stitches per inch, outlines the appliquéd motifs. The border is quilted with a feathered vine and 1-inch diamond quilting fills the background.
The patriotic theme is carried to the lining of the quilt. In the center of the back is a bandanna with the printed text of the Declaration of Independence and facsimiles of the signatures of the signers. These are framed by the Liberty Bell and seals of the thirteen colonies, linked by names of the Revolutionary patriots.
Mary Williams Loomis was born on April 8, 1820, in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York. The daughter of General Thomas Loomis, she married Marcellus Kent Stow (1806-1871) on October 5, 1837, in Buffalo, New York. They moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, in 1852 where Marcellus was a business man, practiced law, and was a county judge.
Marcellus had followed his brother, Alexander, to Wisconsin from New York and together they had platted subdivisions that provided a plan for the city’s growth. Their father, Silas Stow, was a congressman from New York during the War of 1812. Mary and Marcellus reared five children, two girls and three boys.
Mary was also active in the Fond du Lac community. She was a foundering member of the Fond du Lac Relief Society, established in 1873 following the great forest fires of 1872 that destroyed several areas in Wisconsin. The establishment and management of a “Home for the Friendless” or “The Home” was a result of the fund-raising labors of this organization. Operating well into the twentieth century “The Home” provided a refuge for those in need, particularly the elderly, who did not have other resources. Although widowed, Mary still lived in Fond du Lac at the time of the Philadelphia 1876 Centennial. She may have visited the Exhibition and made this quilt as a reminder of the event. Her son, James W. Stow (1853-1913), lived in Washington, D.C., and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. It was in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 1898, that Mary died.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
maker
Stow, Mary W.
ID Number
TE.T15703
accession number
297870
catalog number
T15703
Three block alphabets; no "J" or "U." All alphabet letters and words in inscription done in alternating colors; geometric crossbands (some of them geometric flowering vines) separate all rows. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground.
Description
Three block alphabets; no "J" or "U." All alphabet letters and words in inscription done in alternating colors; geometric crossbands (some of them geometric flowering vines) separate all rows. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, two-sided cross, marking cross, satin, straight, fern, Algerian eye, herringbone, long-armed cross. THREAD COUNT: warp 38, weft 39/in.
Inscription:
"ELISABeTH HOLLAND IS MY NA
Me ENGLISH IS MY NATION BOST
ON IS MY DWeLLING PLACe
AND CHRIST IS MY SALVATION
WHeN I AM DeAD AND GONE
AND ALL MY BONeS ARE ROTeN
I LeAVe THIS SAMPLeR BeHIND
I MAY NOT Be FORGOTTeN FINIS
HeD IN THe 13 YeAR OF HeR
AGe OCTOBeR 14 1737"
Background:
Elizabeth was born on June 28, 1725, to Samuel and Elizabeth Holland in Boston, Massachusetts. She married Edward Gyles in Boston on her birthday, June 28, 1743. They had two sons, Edward and Samuel.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1737
maker
Holland, Elizabeth
ID Number
TE.T18126
catalog number
T18126
accession number
323477
Three block alphabets. One script alphabet; no "J"; "V" and "U" reversed. Numbers to 9; all rows of alphabets, inscription, and verse separated by simple geometric crossbands. Two wider crossbands of birds, trees, plants, strawberries, flowers.
Description
Three block alphabets. One script alphabet; no "J"; "V" and "U" reversed. Numbers to 9; all rows of alphabets, inscription, and verse separated by simple geometric crossbands. Two wider crossbands of birds, trees, plants, strawberries, flowers. Above alphabets, angular arcade with three angels (?). Lower third of sampler contains landscape with hillocks and strawberries, running stag and two dogs, shepherdess and sheep, three flowering trees, parrot and hummingbird. Border of free-style flowering vine across top and down both sides, with single row of marking cross along each side of border. Brown guidelines under free embroidery in landscape and border. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, marking cross, satin, French knot, tent, long-armed cross, outline, stem, chain, Roumanian, bullion. THREAD COUNT: warp 35, weft 38/in.
Inscription:
"ESTHer Tincom IS MY Name and England IS MY Nation
Boston IS MY dwelling Place and Christ IS MY Salvation
When I am dead and in my grave and all my bones are rotten
When This You f[s]ee remember Me That I Mant be for 12
[gotten Do]ne in the 10 Year of MY age 3456789"
Background:
Information from the donor included the following: "brought from Boston, around the Horn in 1850 and William Patch saved the sampler from the San Francisco fire."
Date made
1764-1774
maker
Tincom, Esther
ID Number
TE.T11099
catalog number
T11099
accession number
200253
Armenian embroidery "Folk handicraft" purse; Denison House, Boston.
Description
Armenian embroidery "Folk handicraft" purse; Denison House, Boston. A drawstring bag with Armenian Marash Embroidery, four Armenian needlelace flowers (oya) two on bottom and one one each side, drawstring crocheted, worked by Armenian women at Denison House in Boston, MA.
With the purse is an Ink-inscribed paper note: worked by Armenian women at Denison House, Boston Mass.
Printed and inked paper label: Printed - "Per Pane e Macere" arched over a printed shell./ THE FOLK HANDICRAFTS / Denison House / 93 Tyler St. , Boston, Mass / D / No. (Inked: G - 7050 / Price (Inked: 4.75).
Paper price tag Inked - (/) 7050 / 4.75
Denison House was a settlement house run by women, founded in 1892 as part of the College Settlements Associaiton, a Wellesley College alumni-based group. It was modelled on Jane Addams Hull House, to provide social services and education to local residents, mostly poor, and mostly recent immigrants. An exhibition of handicraft made at Denison House, exhibited at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in 1917, included "the work of Italian, Syrian, Greek and Armenian craftsmen and craftswomen, in silver, leather, linen, silk embroideries, etc., from old designs copied in part from treasure pieces in palaces, museums and private collections in Europe and America." (cited in Wikipedia)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1917?
ID Number
2013.0121.01
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.01

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