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 6 items.
1825 - 1850 Mary Hise Norton's Silk Quilt
- Description
- Mary Hise Norton of Russellville, Kentucky, owned this elaborate silk quilt in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Each of its thirty-six 14-inch stars is pieced using 32 diamond shapes cut from velvet and striped, checked, plaid, brocaded, and warp-printed silks. The stars are set off by 4-inch and 8-inch squares and 4 x 8-inch rectangles along the edges, all of plain green silk.
- The larger silk squares and the rectangles have quilted and stuffed motifs of flowers or foliage sprays, each a different design. Their backgrounds and the smaller squares are quilted in a diagonal grid. The pieced stars are outline-quilted, all at 12 stitches per inch.
- Mary Hise Norton’s quilt has been displayed at many venues and has won prizes, among them the 1917 McCracken County (Kentucky) Fair Blue Ribbon and in 1981 the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society Prize.
- In 1981 the donor wrote: “Our family has a rare quilt . . . the preservation of my quilt is my primary consideration. The quilt has been saved and passed down through seven generations. When my grandmother died in 1930 it was taken from her trunk and stored in a cedar chest from then until the late 70’s . . . . It is a treasure that has been added to my life. It is too rare and old to be used on a bed, I have decided to donate it to [the] Museum.” The donor noted that her great-great-grandmother, Mary Hise Norton, was known for her “artistic worth.”
- The daughter of Frederick and Nancy Hise, Mary Hise was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on March 12, 1797. She moved with her family to Russellville, Kentucky, about 1810. On April 11, 1813, she married William Norton. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on September 2, 1781, William Norton also moved to Kentucky, settling in Russellville about 1810.The Nortons were the parents of six sons and three daughters and owned a blacksmith shop and iron store. They continued to live in Russellville, Kentucky, until William’s death in 1858 and Mary’s in 1878.
- According to David Morton, who in 1891 wrote The Nortons of Russellville, Kentucky, “William and Mary Norton journeyed together as husband and wife for nearly forty-five years, until they became so thoroughly assimilated as to think, talk, and even look alike . . . . Mrs. Norton was more robust in body and mind and more vivacious in temperament than her husband. She did her own thinking, had well-defined opinions and expressed them freely, loved to talk and talked well. A model housekeeper, she rose up while it was yet night and gave meat to her household, nor did her candle go out by night. She ate not the bread of idleness, and her children called her blessed; her husband also praised her. Much of the energy and financial skill evinced by her sons was derived by inheritance from her.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1825-1850
- date made
- Second quarter, 19th century
- quilter
- Norton, Mary Hise
- ID Number
- 1982.0392.01
- catalog number
- 1982.0392.01
- accession number
- 1982.0392
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1840 - 1860 Newman Family's "Tulip" Applique Quilt
- Description
- The uncomplicated quilting and simple tulip motifs rendered in red and green make this a striking example of mid-19th century quilting. The quilt is from donor Mary Newman's family, long-time residents of Somerset, Kentucky.
- The pieced tulips are appliquéd on 16 ½-inch blocks, which are set diagonally. They alternate with plain white blocks of the same dimensions. The tulips are quilted with close parallel lines, filling the shape and following the outlines. The background is 3/8-inch straight grid quilting.
- The “Tulip” quilt came to the Museum in 1936. At the time Edith B. Newman wrote, “I have a very beautiful [quilt] . . . early handmade and very artistic . . . which I inherited from my husband’s family. . . . I am growing old and have no immediate heirs who might appreciate it. . . . [It should] bear the name of my deceased husband’s sister [Mary] as its donor.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840-1860
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T07886
- accession number
- 141830
- catalog number
- T07886
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 - 1875 Fannie Gatewood Grimes's "Harvest Sun" Wool Quilt
- Description
- Fannie Gatewood Grimes pieced nine 21-inch examples of the “Harvest Sun” pattern (also known as “Prairie Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”) to fashion this wool quilt in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1988 it was donated to the Smithsonian by her granddaughter, Mary Harding Renshaw.
- The “Harvest Sun” blocks were pieced with wool fabrics and set with a 6-inch dark green wool sashing. Contributing to the overall design, the 3½-inch borders are made with the same red wool that was used as a background for the pieced blocks. The lining is black twill-woven cotton. The quilting patterns consist of outline and diagonal grid, quilted 7 stitches per inch.
- Frances (Fannie) Price Gatewood was the daughter of Fielding Gatewood (1787-1833?) and Nancy Williams Gatewood (b. 1791). She was born March 22, 1822 in Logan County, Kentucky, one of four children. Fannie married James T. Grimes (about 1814–1869) on December 19, 1840. They lived in Logan County where James was a sheriff and a farmer. Of their eight children, two died in childhood. Family information described James as a tall, red-headed Irishman with a temper, and Fannie as liking nothing more than smoking a pipe filled with cherry leaves. On the 1880 census, Fannie is head-of-household, keeping house in Keysburg, Logan County, for her son and daughter, their spouses, a granddaughter and her mother, Nancy, age 89. Her son is listed as a leaf tobacco dealer and her son-in-law as a distiller. Fannie died on December 11, 1914, at age 92, and is buried in the Grimes Cemetery in Logan County.
- In 1993, Fannie’s “Harvest Sun” wool quilt was reproduced under license to Cabin Creek, a West Virginian quilting cooperative and sold through the Land’s End Catalog. This was in response to an outcry by American quilters who were concerned about the sale of Chinese reproductions of American quilts from the Smithsonian Collection. The reproduction “Harvest Sun” quilt was made by American hand quilters with cotton fabrics that were purchased from American mills.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- Grimes, Fannie Gatewood
- ID Number
- TE*T13540
- catalog number
- T13540
- accession number
- 257664
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1885 - 1895 Mary Harris's "Butter and Eggs" Quilt
- Description
- In the late 1880s, track for the Cumberland Valley Branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad was being laid near the Siler, Kentucky, home of Mary Frances Steele Harris. It was one of many short lines that carried coal down the mountains to connect with the main line. According to family members, Mary Harris sold butter, eggs, and milk to the railway workers, which enabled her to purchase fabrics for making quilts. In this cotton quilt, she combined variations of “Carpenter’s Wheel” and “Crown of Thorns,” pieced patterns with quilted arcs and squares.
- The quilt is comprised of twenty 10 ½-inch blocks and saw-toothed connecting arcs. The fabrics Mary used to create her pattern were plain-weave red, white, and green (now tan) cottons. Quilted arcs, parallel lines, and grids, 7 or 8 stitches per inch, completed the quilt.
- Mary Francis Steele was born in Siler, Knox County, Kentucky, in 1861. Her father was Harrison Holmes Steele, her mother ( ? Barton) died when Mary was a young child. On November 30th, 1882, Mary married William Harvey Harris at the Harrison Steele home. By 1894 they had three children. Frances B. Steele is noted on the tombstone of her husband as wife of William Harvey Harris (1867-1927), but no dates were given for her. Mary’s “Butter and Eggs” quilt is a reminder of the ingenuity of rural women to use their entrepreneurial skills to obtain the materials to create objects of beauty for their homes.
- date made
- 1885-1895
- maker
- Harris, Mary Frances Steele
- ID Number
- 1991.0358.01
- accession number
- 1991.0358
- catalog number
- 1991.0358.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1899 Lydia Finnell's "Star Quilt"
- Description
- Lydia Pearl Finnell may have made this parlor throw for her trousseau. It exemplifies the fancy needlework techniques popular in the late 19th century. Motifs and designs that appear on the throw can be compared with patterns that appear in needlework manuals of the period. The patterns consisted of simple outline drawings, which allowed the user to enhance them to the best of their abilities. Lydia’s talents and schooling are reflected in her elaborate and well-executed interpretations. Highly decorated items, such as this, were often placed in the parlor to display the maker’s needlework skills.
- Eighty-two patches of fabric make up this extensively adorned parlor throw. The central irregular patches are framed by an eight-pointed star made of 2-3/8" strips of black silk pile, giving it the name “Star Quilt.” Each patch is decorated with flora (e.g., pansies, sumac, thistle, etc.) or fauna (e.g., frogs, chicks, swans, owls, etc.) motifs. Ruching, and satin, French knot, plush and outline embroidery stitches are among those techniques used to embellish the parlor throw. The competent use of the plush stitch is evident on many of the motifs. This stitch produces loops that are later cut, combed, and sculpted with scissors to give a three dimensional effect to each motif. The lining is red wool embroidered with small daisy motifs. A braid attached to the 2-7/8” border of black silk pile completes the quilt.
- Lydia Pearl Finnell was born March 3, 1867, to William and Sarah Irvine Finnell in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. At the age of three, she was sent to live with her Aunt Lize (Eliza Finnell Terhune) and Uncle Boley (William Terhune). They taught her the social graces as well as housekeeping skills, cooking, animal husbandry, and some rudimentary doctoring skills. At the age of 14 or 15 she attended Daughters College in Harrodsburg, where she received an excellent education for the time. This included plain and fancy needlework and the fine arts of canvas and china painting.
- Lydia married Bushrod Allin (1871-1942) of Harrodsburg on November 8, 1899. Bushrod and Lydia did not have any children, but raised Mary Forsythe Finnell, the daughter of Lydia's brother Charles Handy Finnell. Lydia died March 31, 1949 and is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Lydia’s “Star Quilt” is a unique example of extraordinary design and needlework skills, truly a “star” in the Collection.
- date made
- 1880-1899
- maker
- Finnell, Lydia Pearl
- ID Number
- 1996.0381.01
- accession number
- 1996.0381
- catalog number
- 1996.0381.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1856 - 1857 Virginia Ivey's Russellville Fair Quilt
- Description
- Virginia Ivey designed this white-work quilt to capture the excitement and lively interest of a county fairground in the mid-nineteenth century. The center circle, 40 inches in diameter, is edged by a board fence complete with gate. Inside the fence is the quilted inscription: "1856 A REPRESENTATION OF THE FAIR GROUND NEAR RUSSELLVILLE KENTUCKY." The central judges' pavilion with the judges, encircled by horses and riders, fair buildings and workers, animals of all sorts, and of course the fairgoers themselves, all in a state of arrested motion, contribute to the unique design.
- Virginia Ivey's needlework and artistic skills resulted in a quilt that depicts the smallest details of fence rail, walking stick and saddle, or men shaking hands in greeting. The surface outline was quilted using two layers of fine white cotton with a thin cotton fiber filling, stitched through all three layers. The sculpted effect of the design was achieved with stuffed and corded quilting techniques and grounded with stippling, 12 stitches to the inch. The quilt is finished with a 4½-inch woven and knotted cotton fringe. Her needlework is often described as using needle and thread much like another artist might use pen or brush.
- Virginia Mason Ivey was born on October 26, 1828 in Tennessee. She was the daughter of Mourning Mason and Capt. David Ivey, a farmer and soldier in the War of 1812. According to family information her father named her after his native state. When Virginia was a young child the family moved to Keysburg, a small town in Logan County, Kentucky. Aunt Jennie, as she was known to the family, according to her niece Ida B. Lewis, "never had any lessons in art-just-her own talent and creative instinct. She loved beauty in many forms and had a most attractive personality and was quite a pretty woman." Virginia Ivey never married and when she died she left this quilt to her niece, Lillian Virginia Lewis.
- "I have a quilt which I value most highly. It was made by my aunt, Virginia M. Ivey. I cannot care for it much longer and I should like very much to know that it will have excellent care and that it will give pleasure to many people who will appreciate its remarkable workmanship and its great beauty". So wrote Lillian V. Lewis about the quilt she donated to the Museum in 1949. Now over 150 years old, this elaborate example of white-work quilting, "A REPRESENTATION OF THE FAIR GROUND NEAR RUSSELLVILLE KENTUCKY 1856," has been exhibited at fairs and museums and has won many prizes.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1856-1857
- quilter
- Ivey, Virginia Mason
- ID Number
- TE*T10269
- catalog number
- T10269
- accession number
- 183387
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center