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 116 items.
Page 1 of 12
Mary Ingersoll's Sampler
- Description
- Man in fawn-colored fall-front trousers, short blue jacket decorated with faceted gilt beads, and tall dark hat. On his arm, lady wearing long dress with wide white collar and blue bonnet tied with long bonnet-strings; she carries parasol and reticule and wears necklace or chain of gilt beads. To right of couple, blue-domed building (temple?) with tall columns on hill above pond, with two deer and flowering bush; to left of couple large tree and under it, sheep and dog. In each upper corner, bluebird under grapevine; children's names enclosed in panel outlined by wave band. Grapes on vines in upper corners worked by coiling purple thread and tacking down each coil in two or three places. Border on all four sides, straight vine bearing roses and rose buds. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, chain, four-sided, French knot. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 28/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "FAMILY RECORD
- Mr Levi Ingersoll was born Dec 26th 1775
Miss Sarah Hubbard was born Jan 2nd 1779
They were united in marriage Jan 31 1802
- THEIR DESCENDANTS
- Hannah Ingersoll was born Jan 30th 1803
Eliza Ingersoll was born Oct 30th 1804
Ann Ingersoll was born Nov 1st 1806
Henry H Ingersoll was born Feb 25th 1809
Charles Ingersoll was born Jan 23rd 1811
Jane Ingersoll was born July 1st 1815
Mary Ingersoll was born Sept 27th 1819 [last 2 numbers replaced or filled in later]
Sarah Ingersoll was born Feb 10th 1821 [last number replaced or filled in later]
- By Miss Mary Ingersoll in the 9th year of her age New York 1830" [number 9 replaced or filled in later]
- Background:
- Mary was born on September 27, 1819, to Levi and Sarah Hubbard Ingersoll in Pound Ridge, New York. She died unmarried on April 18, 1889.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1830
- associated dates
- 1990-03-26
- maker
- Ingersoll, Mary
- ID Number
- 1990.0146.01
- catalog number
- 1990.0146.01
- accession number
- 1990.0146
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Catalina Juliana Mason's Map Sampler
- Description
- Map of New York State. Most counties and county seats named; rivers shown but not named; names of neighboring states given (Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania); Erie Canal shown, but not named. Light gray guidelines under all embroidery; water damage prior to arrival at Smithsonian. Silk thread on wool ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, four-sided, Algerian eye, back, chain. THREAD COUNT: warp 44, weft 46/in.
- Inscription:
- "MAP
of the
STATE
of
NEW YORK"
- Background:
- Catalina Juliana was born on June 19, 1823, to Sidney and Maria Benito Dorado Mason, in St. Johns, Puerto Rico. Catalina's father was American consul in St. Johns from 1829 to 1835. Desiring to educate his children in his native land, Mr. Mason brought his family to the United States in one of his own sailing vessels. After arrival in Baltimore, they were taken to Gloucester, Massachusetts. His wife soon succumbed to the rigors of the climate and died on September 14, 1835. On the death of his wife, Mr. Mason gave up all business interests and set forth on an extended tour of Europe. Before departing, he traveled to Puerto Rico one more time and took Catalina with him. When they returned, he placed Catalina at Miss Emma Willard's boarding school for girls in Troy, New York. Recalled from Europe by the death of his son on Dec 25, 1839, he took up residence in New York, and Catalina finished her school days with the Misses McClennachan. It is not known where she stitched her map sampler. She married Theodorus Bailey Myers in 1847, and they had two children, Theodorus Bailey and Cassie Mason. Catalina and her husband made many trips to Europe, and she is known to have paid a visit to the famous dressmaker, Worth. Her niece admired her hands, saying "They were not ornamental only, for they could sew and embroider beautifully, and do all sorts of fine worsted work." Catalina died on August 27, 1905. See Catalina Mason's other sampler.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1837-1847
- maker
- Mason, Catalina Juliana
- ID Number
- TE*H33819.A
- catalog number
- H33819.A
- accession number
- 70138
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Caroline Quick's Sampler
- Description
- This sampler features two block alphabets with a lower case backward “j,” She included the following inscription:
- “Bestow dear Lord upon our youth
The gift of saving grace
And let the seed of sacred truth
Fall in a fruitful place
Caroline Quick 1841”
- Caroline Quick’s inscription is from a hymn, Prayer for a Blessing by English poet William Cowper (1731-1800). Stitching such a verse on her sampler was a way for Caroline to receive religious instruction. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 22, weft 25/ in. The stitches used are cross, four-sided, double cross, queen, Algerian eye, and crosslet.
- Caroline Quick (c.1831) was the daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth Quick and was born in Ulster County, Marlborough, New York. In the 1880 New York census she was living with George and Timna Quick Woolsey. Timna was a sister to Caroline, and George and Timna were the parents of donor Harriet Woolsey Gardner, Mrs. Daniel Gardner.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1841
- maker
- Quick, Caroline
- ID Number
- TE*H37549
- catalog number
- H37549
- accession number
- 115031
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Diana Austin's Sampler
- Description
- This sampler features two script alphabets to “X,” and there are also two block alphabets: one with 26 letters and one to “W” with “NOPQ” not worked but a space left for them. At the bottom of the sampler, is a two-story house (in perspective) with a tall pointed tree and a spreading tree behind an ornamental fence, which has reverse-curved sections between fence-posts topped by urns. The house on Diana Austin’s sampler could be her home or the home of her teacher. She showed advanced technique by using surface stitches for her trees and not cross stitch. Diana included the inscription:
“Diana Austins Sampler
Marked AD 1827 Aged 8
PENFIELD NY”
- The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 39, weft 46/ in. The stitches used are cross, detached chain, four-sided, Algerian eye, buttonhole, outline, and satin.
- Jotham Austin married Hannah Case as his second wife on August 25, 1817, in Franklin, Vermont. At some point they moved to Penfield, New York, where Jotham died in March 1830 and Hannah died on May 11, 1830. They had two children - Diana (b. May 9, 1819) and Sabrina P. (b. March 13, 1824). Libbeus Ross, who was married to Hannah’s step-daughter Honoria Austin, was appointed guardian of the family according to Hannah’s will, dated March 15, 1830.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1827
- maker
- Austin, Diana
- ID Number
- TE*T14276
- catalog number
- T14276
- accession number
- 276184
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lucretia M. Hand's Sampler
- Description
- Lucretia added to her basic marking sampler a decoration of flowering plants, which stand for nature. It is hemstitched on all sides with dark thread. Lucretia included the inscription: “Lucretia M Hand.” The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 32, weft 39/in. The stitches used are: cross, Algerian eye, back, queen, and hem.
- Lucretia M. Hand was born on October 7, 1799, in Sag Harbor (Long Island), New York to Jared (1762-) and Beulah Hedges (1769 –1828) Hand. On July 30, 1823, she married, Dr. George Washington Harris of Greenport, Long Island. She died on Long Island in 1863.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1810
- maker
- Hand, Lucretia M.
- ID Number
- TE*T14845
- catalog number
- T14845
- accession number
- 282859
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1760 Eve Van Cortlandt's Quilted Counterpane
- Description
- Eve Van Cortlandt's fine white linen quilted counterpane is one of the earliest dated American quilts in existence. The date, "1760" and her initials, "E V C," are embroidered in blue silk cross-stitch on the quilt lining. Quilted with white linen thread, a delicate pattern of flowers, feathery stems, and low open baskets surround a central quatrefoil medallion. The design is set off by a background of quilted parallel lines just one-eighth inch apart.
- Eve was born on May 22, 1736, to Frederick Van Cortlandt and Francena Jay each from families of wealthy and prominent New York landowners. She made her quilt for her dower chest while living in the family home. In 1761, Eve married the Honorable Henry White, a businessman and a member of the King’s Council of the Royal Colony of New York. He became president of the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1772 and remained loyal to the King of England during the Revolution.
- When the British evacuated New York in 1783, Henry moved his family to England. Henry White died in London in 1786, and Eve returned to America as a widow, most likely to be near two of her children who lived in New York. Of their five children, two sons were in the British service and remained in London, as did one daughter. Eve died in 1836 at the age of one hundred, having witnessed a century of historic events. Since 1897, the family home in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx has been a museum.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1760
- quilter
- Van Cortlandt, Eve
- ID Number
- 1979.0184.01
- catalog number
- 1979.0184.01
- accession number
- 1979.0184
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Linen Overshot Coverlet 1790
- Description
- Elizabeth Deuel is said to have made this single-woven, all linen coverlet in1790, in the Saratoga region of New York State. Her name and the date are cross-stitched into the lower edge of the coverlet just above the fringe. A search of the 1790 census of the area produced no one with the surname Deuel. More research is needed to determine where Miss Deuel lived, and if she was the weaver or the owner of this coverlet. In the 18th century, it was common for household textiles to be marked with the initials or name of the owner and the date. The average colonial home did not have a great number of household textiles, and they were considered important possessions. This coverlet was woven in two sections that were then sewn together.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- late 18th century
- 1790
- weaver or owner
- Deuel, Elizabeth
- maker or owner of coverlet
- Deuel, Elizabeth
- ID Number
- 1981.0274.005
- accession number
- 1981.0274
- catalog number
- 1981.0274.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1922 Clarkesville Reformed Church Embroidered Counterpane
- Description
- This redwork embroidered counterpane was most likely made as a fund raiser for the Clarksville Reformed Church. It is dedicated to “Rev. Boyce Pastor. Peggy His wife, Rex Their dog.” According to further inscriptions on the quilt, the occasion was the “Clarksville Reformed Church Fair Dec. 8th 1922.”
- A twelve-petal daisy is the motif of the forty-eight blocks, the petals providing spaces for over 500 embroidered names. First, the names were written in pencil, and then embroidered with red cotton. In a few instances, a different name is embroidered over the original penciled name. One block utilized the spaces for advertising: “Priced / Lowest / The / Transportation / Economical / Motor Cars / Chevrolet / Wright / Gardner / Automobile / Equipped / Fully.” Presumably a small donation, maybe ten or twenty-five cents, assured one’s name embroidered on the counterpane. Further funds may have been secured by a raffle at the December fair. Or it may have been given to Pastor Boyce as a token of appreciation. Quilts or counterpanes such as this are still used, as they have been for more than 150 years, to raise funds for worthy causes.
- The Clarksville Reformed Church was established in 1853, when a building was erected to serve the congregation. Sadly, this church was destroyed by fire on a cold February Sunday in 1912. The congregation rallied to rebuild and less then a year later, in January 1913, they were able to hold services in a new church. Clarksville in the 1920s, when this counterpane was made, was a small village in Albany County, New York. Reverend Boyce was the pastor for the Clarksville Reformed Church from 1919 to 1926 and also the Reformed Church in Westerlo, New York. In the 1950s Clarksville was still a small village and it became increasingly difficult to support the church. Another church in Clarksville, the Methodist Episcopal Church, also faced similar problems, and the solution was to merge the two. By the mid-1960s, a new church was dedicated whose sign incorporates the two bells from the older churches, symbolizing the origins of the new Clarksville Community Church.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1922
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- 1995.0011.02
- accession number
- 1995.0011
- catalog number
- 1995.0011.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1830 Jane Valentine's "Irish Chain" Quilt
- Description
- On the front of this “Irish Chain”-patterned quilt is found an inscription in ink: “Commenced in 1825 & Finished in 1830 by Mifs Jane Valentine Scipio Cayuga Co. N.Y. No. of Pieced Blocks 168 Small Blocks 4,2,42." Another inscription in a different hand and ink on a back corner states: “My Mothers 5040 Blocks 1832 In Case of My death to be given to My Sister Hattie Blodgett.”
- The quilt is made of 3-inch plain and pieced blocks. The blocks are comprised of about 130 different roller-printed cottons with small print motifs. An examination of the quilt reveals that there are 348 white blocks and 348 pieced blocks; the segments of the pieced blocks are 5/8-inch square, and there are 10,092 of them. Diagonal grid quilting follows the “chain.” The plain white blocks are quilted, 6 stitches per inch, with a floral motif. The “Irish Chain” pattern was in use in the early 1800s and may have been adapted from weaving patterns.
- Margaret Jane Valentine was the daughter of Peter Valentine (1784-1865) and Elizabeth Hilliker. Jane married Benjamin Brown Jr. on November 16, 1831. Harriet Brown was born in 1848 and married Charles Blodgett. It was Mrs. Harriet E. Blodgett who in 1915 donated this quilt and a coverlet. At the time she wrote that the quilt was “. . . pieced by my mother. Commenced in 1825 when she was about fourteen finished 1830. . . I feel a great desire to put them [both quilt and coverlet] where they will be preserved.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1830
- maker
- Valentine, Jane
- ID Number
- TE*E287383
- accession number
- 58478
- catalog number
- E287383
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Jacob Impson Coverlet
- Description
- The weaver of this Jacquard double-woven cotton and wool coverlet, Jacob Impson (1802—1869), worked first in Ludlowville, New York, and then in Cortland Village, New York. His name, the name of the owner (Lois Burnham) and the date 1834 appear in both of the lower corners of this coverlet. The words “Lady’s Fancy” (which may be the name of the design) appear across the upper edge of the border, and the words, “Cortland Village” appear across the lower area of the border, just above the finished edge. This coverlet was made at the height of the “Fancy” period (1790—1840) in the decorative arts. During the “Fancy” period, items were covered with bright designs with lots of movement rather than the classical motifs used in other periods. This coverlet was woven in two pieces and sewn together.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1834
- owner
- Burnham, Lois
- weaver
- Impson, Jacob
- ID Number
- TE*T008113
- catalog number
- T08113.000
- accession number
- 144578
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center