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 159 items.
Page 4 of 16
1860 - 1865 Celia Corwin's "Economy" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- This quilt was among several pieced-work quilts, quilt blocks, and other household textile items that were donated in 1932. It is the work of Celia Corwin, the daughter of Rachel Burr Corwin, whose quilts are also in the Collection.
- A wide variety of plain-weave and roller-printed cottons were used for the cross-and-square design, a variation of the “Economy” pattern. The thirty 13-inch blocks are framed with a 4½-inch polka-dot sashing and border. The lining is composed of four lengths of roller-printed stripe fabric. Linear quilting, 5 stitches per inch, completes the quilt.
- Celia Corwin, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Burr Corwin, was born April 13, 1816, in Orange County, New York. She never married and died December 23, 1884. The Textile Collection also contains a sampler that she made in 1830.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1860-1865
- maker
- Corwin, Celia
- ID Number
- TE*T07119
- catalog number
- T07119
- accession number
- 121578
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1845 Mary Jane Moran's Bride's Quilt
- Description
- This silk quilt, delicately appliquéd and embroidered with baskets and sprays of fruit and flowers, was made by Mary Jane Green Moran when she was a young bride in Baltimore, Maryland. The blocks are set diagonally and separated by a white silk sashing appliquéd and embroidered with bud-and-leaf vines, echoed by the undulating leafy vine in the border. The silk top is closely quilted, 12 to 15 stitches per inch, to a muslin backing. It was said that 1,001 skeins of silk thread were used in the quilting. A woven and knotted golden-colored silk fringe is stitched to three sides of this example of mid-nineteenth- century needlework.
- At the time of Mary Jane Green’s marriage in 1846 to Dr. Jonathan J. Moran, he was a resident physician at Washington University College Hospital in Baltimore. It was in that capacity that he attended the dying Edgar Allan Poe in October 1849. Dr. Moran in later years wrote several versions of those last hours that he spent with Edgar Allan Poe, and lectured on the topic as well. From the accounts, it appears that Mary Moran also nursed the dying Poe, reading to him as well as preparing his shroud.
- After the closing of the hospital in 1851, the Morans moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where they were both active in the community and the Dulin Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Jonathan Moran became the first mayor of Falls Church in 1875 and served until 1877. He died in 1888, and Mary Jane died the following year.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1845
- quilter
- Moran, Mary Jane Green
- ID Number
- TE*T07140
- accession number
- 123393
- catalog number
- T07140
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 Mary T. Barnes's "Irish Chain" Quilt
- Description
- This quilt, a variation of the “Irish Chain” pattern, was made for Mary T. Barnes’s dower chest in 1850. She married Gen. John Bratton Erwin in 1866. Blocks pieced in red, green, and white cottons were set such that the “chain” runs both horizontally and vertically. Both plain and printed fabrics were used for the border which is quilted with parallel diagonal lines. An inked inscription, “Mary T. Barnes 1850” is in the upper left corner block. Mary’s two daughters donated the “Irish Chain” Quilt in 1933.
- Mary T. Barnes, the only child of Dixon Barnes (1816-1862) and Charlotte Brown Barnes, was born 16 October 1840 in Lancaster County, S. C.. Her mother died when Mary was six. Her father, Col.l Dixon Barnes, commanded the 12th South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. Colonel Barnes died as a result of wounds during the Antietam Campaign when Mary was about 22.
- After her marriage in 1866, she and John Bratton Erwin (1834-1916) settled on her plantation in Lancaster County, S. C. John, trained as a lawyer, fought in the Civil War. After he married, he managed Mary’s large estates. They had six children of whom three lived into adulthood. In 1876 John Erwin was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives and in 1886 to the Senate. Mary died in 1893 and John in 1916. Both are buried in the Camp Creek Methodist Church Cemetery, Lancaster County, S. C.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T07141
- accession number
- 122856
- catalog number
- T07141
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1850 - 1875 Mary Ann Bishop's "Double Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, made this quilt in the mid-nineteenth century. She utilized plain-woven roller-printed cotton dress fabrics and woven striped, checked, and plaid cottons. Two of the blocks of the “Double Nine-patch” quilt were enlarged by adding strips of printed cotton along two edges. A combination of diagonal-line and feathered “S” curve patterns were used for the quilting. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for marking the quilting pattern.
- Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842 in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
- Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Double Nine-patch” pattern is one of three quilts in the Collection that were donated by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1875
- maker
- Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
- ID Number
- TE*T07850
- accession number
- 141189
- catalog number
- T07850
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1875 - 1888 Mary Ann Bishop's "Ocean Wave" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- This “Ocean Wave” quilt was begun by Mary Ann Bishop of Wilkesville, Vinton County, Ohio, in 1875 and quilted in 1888. Roller-printed cottons with a few woven checks and plaids were pieced for the patterns that set off the quilted plain, cream-colored cotton centers. A saw-tooth strip of red cotton appliquéd to the 6-inch border frames the “Ocean Wave” pattern. Quilted, at 9 stitches per inch, with straight lines on the pieced sections, the feathered circles and feathered leaves provide a surface texture to the quilt. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for pencil marking the quilting pattern.
- Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842 in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
- Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Ocean Wave” pattern is one of three quilts in the Collection that were donated by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875-1888
- maker
- Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
- ID Number
- TE*T07851
- accession number
- 141189
- catalog number
- T07851
- 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
1840 - 1850 Mary Ann Bishop's "Wreath of Roses" Appliqued Quilt
- Description
- In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Ann Bishop appliquéd this “Wreath of Roses” quilt in the then popular red and green combination of fabrics. Nine 18-inch blocks appliquéd with wreaths of roses are separated by 5½-inch plain white sashing. Eight-pointed stars are appliquéd at the sashing intersections. The 8-inch quilt border is appliquéd with three-lobed leaves on an undulating vine. Plain-weave white and red cottons and a roller-printed cotton of brown dots on a green ground were used for the quilt. Diagonal grid and line quilting, 10 stitches to the inch, provides a contrast to the quilted feathered leaves on the sashing. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for marking the quilting pattern.
- Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842, in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
- Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Wreath of Roses” pattern is one of three quilts in the collection that were donated to the Smithsonian by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1840-1850
- maker
- Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
- ID Number
- TE*T07956
- accession number
- 143694
- catalog number
- T07956
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1825 - 1835 Betsy Totten's "Rising Sun" Quilt
- Description
- While the precise name of an individual’s quilt pattern was seldom recorded in the nineteenth century, Mary “Betsy” Totten left no doubt about the name she gave this quilt or its importance to her when she prepared her will, circa 1860. “First, after all my lawful debts are paid and discharged, I give and bequeath to Rachel Mary Drake, daughter of William Drake, deceased, my large spread called the Rising Sun.” (Florence Peto in her book Historic Quilts ). More than 75 years later, Betsy Totten’s “Rising Sun” quilt was brought to the Smithsonian in 1938 by the donor, Marvel Matthes. She had been presented with this magnificent quilt by her godmother, Ellen Totten Butler.
- The “Rising Sun” pieced pattern in the center of Betsy’s quilt is an eight-pointed star measuring 76 inches across. It contains 648 diamond-shaped pieces made of eleven different roller-printed cottons arranged concentrically by color. Appliquéd between the points of the star are elaborate vases of flowers and birds, combining floral glazed chintzes with some of the same fabrics used in the star. A matching floral vine runs around the four sides of the quilt between a swag-and-bow border on the inside, and a chain along the outer edge. The appliquéd flower stems, vine, swags, bows, and chain are only 3/32-inch wide. The star and border appliqué are outline-quilted, with additional small floral motif quilting in the open spaces in the border. The initials “B T” are embroidered in red silk cross-stitch next to one of the corner vases.
- Mary “Betsy” Totten, daughter of Gilbert Totten (1740-1819) and Mary Butler (1739-1832), was born in either 1781 or 1783 in Staten Island, New York. Betsy was one of eight siblings. In the late eighteenth century, members of the Totten family bought land in the Staten Island area. About 1840 the area purchased by Gilbert, Betsy’s father, became known as Tottenville. The economy revolved around oyster fishing, shipbuilding and repair, and farming. Betsy married late in life, in her forties, first to Rev. Joseph Polhemus (1762-1827), and, after his death, to Matthew Williams (1780-1836). Betsy had no children of her own and her “Rising Sun” quilt was willed to her grandniece when she died in 1861.
- Mary "Betsy" Totten’s “Rising Sun”quilt is an important example of design and workmanship in the Collection. The fabrics she chose to create this quilt were reproduced in the late twentieth century for the inspiration of contemporary quilters. Three other quilts by Betsy are in the collections of the Staten Island Historical Society, and another in Cooperstown, New York. Betsy’s legacy is her needlework.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1825-1835
- maker
- Totten, Mary Betsy
- ID Number
- TE*T08153
- accession number
- 147358
- catalog number
- T08153
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1855 - 1860 Millie Medaris's "Ocean Wave" Quilt
- Description
- In 1939, Millie Medaris’s granddaughter donated this “Ocean Wave” pieced quilt. Unfortunately, little is known at this time about the quilt maker. The “Ocean Wave” has been a popular pattern at various times and this mid-nineteenth-century quilt provides a competently rendered example.
- The quilt is composed of fourteen-inch blocks pieced of plain and printed triangles around plain cotton centers. A three-inch white cotton border frames the “Ocean Wave” pattern, enhanced by a ¾-inch printed cotton strip along the inside edges of the two sides. The fabrics used, typical of the late 1850s, are plain-colored, roller-printed, and checked cottons. All the pieced triangles are outline-quilted, with clamshell quilting on the white centers and double diagonal lines on the border. It is finely quilted, 10 stitches per inch.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1855-1860
- maker
- Medaris, Millie
- ID Number
- TE*T08358
- accession number
- 153091
- catalog number
- T08358
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1860 Mary McCrea's "Crown" Quilt
- Description
- Two quilted and stuffed blocks help identify this quilt; “M. L. Mc May 24th 1860” (Mary Larson McCrea) and “J Mc” (Rev. James McCrea, her husband). According to family information that accompanied the donation, a close inspection of the quilt even reveals the handprint of one of her children. Other designs in the quilting were inspired by the ferns and flowers gathered near her home.
- This pieced quilt artistically embodies two quilting techniques popular in mid-nineteenth-century America: raised and ground quilting. Sixteen 10-inch blocks, pieced of plain white and printed red cottons in the “Crown” pattern, are set diagonally with elaborately quilted and stuffed plain white blocks in floral patterns. The quilt has a 9-inch border edged by two pieced sawtooth bands, the inner one of the same fabric as the pieced blocks, the outer one composed of green printed cotton. It is quilted with feathered vines. The quilting is 10 stitches per inch, all a fine tribute to Mary McCrea’s needlework and design skills.
- Mary Lawson Ruth, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Ruth, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1835. The family, like many in that period, moved to Ohio where Mary received her education and taught school at Millwood (Quaker City), Ohio. An account of Quaker City, Ohio, describes the early school, founded in 1810, as a log cabin equipped with a few books and a supply of hickory and beech switches, although by the time Mary was teaching in the 1850s the school presumably had improved.
- On July 3rd, 1856, Mary married Rev. James McCrea. A white silk shawl with a white silk embroidered floral border that was worn by Mary McCrea at her wedding was included in the donation. They had seven children.
- She was profiled in family information as an “accomplished needlewoman . . . proven by the exquisite stitchery in the quilt and infants’ clothing.” A baptismal gown, also part of the donation, was made for her first child, Samuel P. McCrea, born in 1857, and subsequently worn by all her children. “She made all of the clothing worn by her family including her husband [his clothes].” James McCrea was both a teacher and ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church. Mary died in December 1880 and is buried in the Murray, Indiana, cemetery. The “Crown” quilt as well as jewelry, infant apparel, and family portraits, were included in the bequest to the Smithsonian by Miss Mary E. McCrea in 1941.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1860
- maker
- McCrea, Mary Lawson Ruth
- ID Number
- TE*T08582
- accession number
- 160721
- catalog number
- T08582
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center