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 18 items.
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Elizabeth Pitman's Sampler
- Description
- The lettering on Elizabeth’s sampler is in black silk, and the whole sampler is framed by vines with leaves and flowers worked in various pulled thread patterns. She included the inscription:
"Elizabeth Pitman in
her 12th year 1802
And am I born to die, to lay this body down
And muf[s]t my trembling f[s]pirit fly into a world
unknown"
- (Most of the verse had disappeared; however it is a standard verse on samplers of the period, Hymns for Children (1763) by Charles Wesley.) Charles Wesley wrote over two thousand hymns during his lifetime, and Elizabeth Pitman chose one that was often used on samplers on the imminence of death. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 44, weft 44/in. The stitches used are cross, rice, Algerian eye, eyelet, outline, stem, and pulled thread. Elizabeth’s sampler came to the Smithsonian in very poor condition, but is important for research because of the pulled thread work on it and because it is a rare Southern sampler.
- Elizabeth Pitman was born on November 30, 1790, to Andrew and Francis Frankey Pitman in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She married Isaac Mytinger on July 16, 1807, and sometime after his death on May 26, 1814, she married Anthony Huffman (1784-1861). They had seven children - David (1815-), Frances C. (1816-), John Morgan (1821-), Caroline Matilda (1825-), Edward (1828-), Ann Elizabeth (1830-), and Asburina Cornelia (1833-). She died on September 3, 1870.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1802
- maker
- Pitman, Elizabeth
- ID Number
- TE*T12180
- catalog number
- T12180
- accession number
- 233455
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mary P. Stabler's Sampler
- Description
- This sampler features six block alphabets: five of 26 letters and one double. All the rows are separated by simple geometric crossbands. Mary Stabler’s sampler is an example of a marking sampler that consisted predominately of alphabets and numbers, and was usually the first sampler a young lady stitched. Alphabets were used to mark linens for identification. Mary included the inscription:
“Mary P Stabler’s
Work
Aged 11 Alexandria”
- The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 28, weft 29/in. The stitches used are: cross, crosslet, four-sided, double cross, rice, Algerian eye, queen, and herringbone.
- Mary Pleasants Stabler was born on January 30, 1809, to Edward and Mary Hartshorne Stabler in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1835 she married John Leadbeater and they had eight children - Edward S., Lucy, Mary G., Alice, Anna, Alice, William, and Thomas. Mary died on August 9, 1863. See her daughter Anna Leadbeater’s samplers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1819-1821
- maker
- Stabler, Mary P.
- ID Number
- TE*T12610
- catalog number
- T12610
- accession number
- 235642
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mary Harrison's Sampler
- Description
- In upper half of sampler, flanking verses, flowering plant with birds flying overhead, and lady and gentleman under tree. Man wears short flared coat and carries cane; lady wears elaborate hat, long-sleeved dress, and pantalettes, and carries small bag with long ribbon straps and what appears to be furled parasol. In lower half, large flat-roofed building with tall windows and columns. On flat roof recessed second story also flat-roofed but with large semicircular window. Building stands on lawn (or hill) flanked by trees, urns of flowers, and spotted dog. Border of geometric strawberry vine on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, queen, satin, double cross, four-sided, chain, stem. THREAD COUNT: warp 29, weft 31/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "What iS the blooming fair
And tincture of the Skin
to Peace of mind from care
And harmony within
Sickness and age will blaSt
All outward charmeS away
Virtue will Sooth at last
in deathS tremendiouS day
- See the Kind Shepherd JeSuS StandS
with all engaging charmeS
Hark how he calls his tender lambs
And folds them in his arms
- Mary Harrison Aged Eleven Years
Alexandria July 1830"
- Background:
- This may have been stitched by the Mary Harrison who was born about 1820, daughter of Reverend Elias Harrison. She married Joseph M. Newton as her second husband in 1858. Or it may have been stitched by the Mary Harrison who was born in 1818, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Carlin Harrison of Alexandria, Virginia, and who married Isaac Kell in 1841.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1830
- maker
- Harrison, Mary
- ID Number
- TE*T14710
- catalog number
- T14710
- accession number
- 280469
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Mary W. Tyler's Sampler
- Description
- Two block alphabets. Upper-case alphabet has 26 letters; lower-case alphabet has no "J." One script alphabet with no "J" or "U." Numbers 1 through 14. Border of a vine with triangular flowers or leaves. Silk embroidery thread on linsey-woolsey; blue linen warp, tan wool weft. STITCHES: cross, Algerian eye, hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 27, weft 26/in.
- Inscription:
- "Embroidry [sic] decks
The canvas round
And yields a pleasing view
So virtue tends
to deck the mind
and form its blisful [sic] state
Mary W Tyler aged 12 years
- Background:
- This may have been made by Mary Welles Tyler, born on April 2, 1792, to Nathan and Nancy Tyler, or by Mary Whitwell Tyler, born on June 23, 1798, to Royall II and Mary Tyler.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1775-1825
- maker
- Tyler, Mary W.
- ID Number
- 1991.0764.01
- catalog number
- 1991.0764.01
- accession number
- 1991.0764
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1817 Double-woven Coverlet
- Description
- The weaver of this blue and white double-woven coverlet is unknown. The letters “N x C” and the date “1817” appear cross-stitched near the lower edge. The coverlet was woven in two pieces which were later seamed together. It has a four-inch fringe at the lower edge. According to the donor, this coverlet was made by his great-grandmother (no name given) in Hillsboro, Virginia. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was not unusual to mark one's household textiles by embroidering them with initials and the date. If a person owned more than one of the same type of item, each might be numbered as well.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1817
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T017650
- catalog number
- T17650.000
- accession number
- 319020
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Virginia Coverlet
- Description
- This red and white cotton and wool double-woven coverlet was made in the first half of the 19th century. The upper edge is hemmed with two-ply cotton thread and the lower edge has a knotted self fringe. The overall design is geometric, and there are three deep borders. According to the donor, it was made in Hillsboro, Virginia. The name of the weaver is unknown. Textiles such as coverlets, sheets, and pillow cases might be included in a woman’s dowry. A dowry was a collection of textiles, furniture, and other household items assembled by a young woman and her parents. Her dowry was to be used when she married and had her own home. Today we would call it a “hope chest.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1800-1850
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T017651
- catalog number
- T17651.000
- accession number
- 319026
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Anna Leadbeater's Sampler
- Description
- Six block alphabets. One double of 26 letters. Numbers through 13. Alphabets and numbers colored in pairs or groups with all rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. No border. Cotton thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, four-sided, double cross, rice, Algerian eye, crosslet. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 25/in.
- Inscription:
- "Anna Leadbeater
to her Father
8 mo 28th
1852.
Age 10"
- Background:
- Anna was born on October 2, 1842, to John and Mary P. Stabler Leadbeater in Alexandria, Virginia. John Leadbeater was the owner of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary in Alexandria, which today is an apothecary museum. She married Henry C. Slaymaker, a Civil War veteran, on November 6, 1866, and they had three children—Isabel, Henry C. Jr., and Frank. Henry Sr. died of consumption on February 28, 1880, and Anna died on February 15, 1906.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1852
- maker
- Leadbeater, Anna
- ID Number
- TE*T12612
- catalog number
- T12612
- accession number
- 235642
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 - 1875 Mary Maphis Copp's Pieced Quilt
- Description
- Mary Maphis Copp pieced this cotton quilt in the mid-19th century. The center panel consists of alternating “Nine-patch” and plain white 6" blocks. It is framed by a border of 24 blocks in the“Sunflower” or “Blazing Star” pattern.
- The sunflowers are unusual in that they have nineteen petals. The quilting patterns of outline, double-line diagonal grid, and parallel lines enhance the design. There is no separate binding; instead the back was brought to the front and whipstitched. The quilt is a distinctive combination of a simple pattern in the center panel with a more complicated pattern in the border blocks.
- Mary C. [Catherine] Maphis was born September 8, 1831, to John H. and Fannie V. Headley Maphis in Woodstock, Va. She married George W. Copp (1825-1899), a farmer, on November 7, 1850. They settled at Fisher’s Hill, a small village near Strasburg, Va. George and Mary had eight children: Frances (1851-1943), John W. (1852-1917), William H. (b. 1854), David E. (1855-1926), Silas A. ( 1856-1926), Barbara R. (b. 1859), George V. (b. 1862), and Benjamin (b. 1872). According to family information, their home was the site of a Civil War battle. It was burned and all their belongings lost.
- Fisher’s Hill was part of Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign September 21-22, 1864. The Confederate Army retreated (casualty estimates of 1,235 to the Union’s 528) and left the Valley open to a “scorched earth” invasion in which dwellings and other buildings were burnt from Staunton to Strasburg, Virginia.
- The Copp family eventually relocated to Strasburg. Mary died on February 11, 1886. She is buried in the Strasburg Presbyterian Church Cemetery. The quilt was donated to the National Museum by her granddaughter Mrs. Irene Copp Pifer, the daughter of Mary’s son, John W. Copp.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- Copp, Mary C. Maphis
- ID Number
- TE*T13463
- accession number
- 254850
- catalog number
- T13463
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1840 - 1860 Sophia Denty's Floral Appliqued Quilt Top
- Description
- According to family information, shortly after the quilt maker, Sophia Denty, married she moved into a house built in 1729 located in Fairfax, Northern Virginia. The house at the time had an old English garden that Sophia had always admired and it was supposedly the inspiration for the patterns she chose for this quilt top.
- Twenty-five 17¼-inch blocks were appliquéd with red and green flowers and leaves in sprays, wreaths, and vases. Embroidery enhances a few of the stems. Two blocks have appliquéd star designs and one has appliquéd pineapples. Plain-weave cottons in plain colors were used. The 8¼-inch border is appliquéd with a meandering vine bearing leaves and buds. The blocks were joined after 1840. The color scheme, red-and-green, and standard designs are typical for many mid-nineteenth-century quilts.
- Sophia Barker was born on January 26, 1813, in Fairfax, Virginia. She married James Compton Denty on July 10, 1832. They lived in Northern Virginia with their eight children. Sophia died February 19, 1886 and is buried in the Pohick Church in Accotink, Fairfax, Virginia. Emeline Denty Talbott donated her grandmother’s quilt top to the Smithsonian in 1972.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840-1860
- maker
- Denty, Sophia Barker
- ID Number
- TE*T15351
- catalog number
- T15351
- accession number
- 293862
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1860 - 1865 Matilda Whisler's "Whig Rose" Appliqued Quilt
- Description
- Matilda Whisler appliquéd this variation of the “Whig Rose” pattern in the mid-19th century. She accentuated the pattern with outline quilting on all of the appliquéd motifs. Quilted feathered plumes (“Princess Feather”), diagonal lines ¼-inch apart, and clamshells on the outer edges further enhance the design. Finely quilted at 7-10 stitches per inch, hers is a typical example of the red and green quilts popular in that period.
- Matilda Kramer was born in Frederick County, Va., on 18 March 1817. She married Henry Whisler, a native of Rockingham County, Va., in 1818. According to census information, they lived in Rockingham County and had three daughters and a son. Henry was a shoemaker. His son, Cambias (1846-1909) followed his father in the shoemaking trade. Henry died in 1885, and Matilda on 15 September 1898. Both are buried in Trissell’s Mennonite Church Cemetery in Rockingham County.
- In 1942, the donor, one of Matilda’s daughters, wrote: “In 1861 my mother made a very beautiful quilt which is still in excellent condition. . . . I shall be glad to donate it.” Matilda’s carefully crafted quilt in the “Whig Rose” pattern was considered a “desirable specimen” by the Museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1860-1865
- maker
- Whisler, Matilda Kramer
- ID Number
- TE*T08613
- accession number
- 162596
- catalog number
- T08613
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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