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 64 items.
Page 1 of 7
Mary Eddy's Sampler
- Description
- The verse that Mary Eddy included on her sampler was written by an English poet named William Oland (1723-85) around 1763. It was probably selected by her teacher, and the verses were generally chosen to express the ideals to which young ladies should aspire to, according to her contemporary society.
- “The Contraf[s]t
Virtue alone has that to give,
Which makes it joy to die or live
But vice can only that supply
Which makes it pain to live or die.”
- The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 27, weft 32/in. The stitches used are cross, crosslet, tent, Algerian eye, and stem.
- Mary Eddy was born on April 16, 1804, to Samuel and his second wife Martha Wheaton Eddy in Providence, Rhode Island. Samuel Eddy’s first wife was Betsy Bucklin. (See Betsy Bucklin’s sampler.) Mary married William Chase (1786-1875) as his second wife on March 15, 1854. They did not have any children.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1816
- maker
- Eddy, Mary
- ID Number
- 2008.0161.01
- catalog number
- 2008.0161.01
- accession number
- 2008.0161
- 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
Margaret Arndt's Sampler
- Description
- At bottom of the sampler is an unfinished two-story house with two baskets and an urn of flowers, on a ground of straight stitches shaded like Florentine patterns. Margaret Arndt stitched a common proverb that reflected the importance at that time of one’s salvation in Christ. The inscription reads:
“The LOSE of a FaThEr IS MUSh
BUT The LOZE OF a MOTher IS MOOR
BUT the LOSE OF ChrIST IS SUCh
AS NONe CAN RE STOre
DONe IN MY AELEVe
Nth YeAr OF my
Age the YeAr OF
OUR LOrd ONe ThOUSaNd 1815
Margaret Arndt”
- The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 27, weft 29/in. The stitches used are cross, chain, Algerian eye, satin, stem, outline, buttonhole, straight, crosslet, slanted gobelin, and hem.
- Margaret Arndt, born ca. 1804 in Pennsylvania, married on June 11, 1833, as the second wife of Henry DeHuff (1794 - 1854). They had six children - Catherine (c.1834-), Jacob A. (c.1836-), Abraham (c.1838-), Anna (1840-), Susannah (c.1845-), and John (c.1848-).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1815
- maker
- Arndt, Margaret
- ID Number
- TE*T16418
- catalog number
- T16418
- accession number
- 304266
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Adaline Ann Williams's Sampler
- Description
- Block upper-case alphabet all one color. Block lower-case alphabet all one color. Script alphabet all one color, no "J." Numbers 1 through 9. Rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. At bottom of sampler, three strawberry plants with brown and white seed stitches decorating strawberries. In lower right corner, floral swag with cords and tassels above patterned basket of flowers. Simple geometric border on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, seed. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 24/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "Adaline Ann Williams Aged 12 Years Done
In The 35th Year Of The Independence Of The
United States Of America July 24th AD 1810.
- Bef[s]et with snares on every hand
In lifes uncertain path I stand
Saviour divine diffuse thy light
To guide my doubtful footsteps right
Engage this roving treach'rous heart
Great God to chuse the better part
To scorn the trifles of a day
For joys that none can take away"
- Background:
- This is probably the Adaline Ann who was born on July 16, 1798, in Hartford, Connecticut, to John and Sarah Powers Williams. She married John Bois Turner on September 25, 1855.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1810
- maker
- Williams, Adaline Ann
- ID Number
- 1988.0831.02
- accession number
- 1988.0831
- catalog number
- 1988.0831.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sally Loper's Coverlet
- Description
- This fancy double-woven coverlet was made in Westbury, Long Island, New York, in 1817 for Sarah Bishop Loper. It was woven with cotton and wool yarns, possibly on a draw-loom. Mrs. Loper’s name, the date (December 2, 1817), and the name of the town are woven into the two lower corners of the coverlet. The coverlet was woven in two sections, which were sewn together. Mrs. Loper was born November 10, 1786, and married Luther Loper on January 17, 1805. They had seven children. This coverlet was passed through six generations of the family before being given to the Museum in 1971. The weaver and the meaning of the date are unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1817-12-02
- 1817
- owner
- Loper, Sarah Bishop
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T015535
- catalog number
- T15535.000
- accession number
- 294367
- 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
M. [Mary] Cook's Sampler
- Description
- Three block alphabets of 26 letters. Numbers to 9. Word "Marcellus" appears at end of one alphabet. Sampler worked in black silk with brown cotton used only for small period at ends of rows. Border of single row of long-armed cross at top, single row of herringbone on each side, single row of double cross at bottom. Silk thread on cotton ground. STITCHES: cross, long-armed cross, herringbone, eyelet, four-sided, crosslet, double cross. THREAD COUNT: warp 26, weft 26/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "With ink and pen.
These marks will give.
The lives of men.
To all that live.
- Worked by M Cook.
August 1818."
- Background:
- Mary was born on February 22, 1806, to Daniel and Rebecca Pomeroy Cook in Skaneateles, New York. Daniel served in the Revolutionary War for three months at Saratoga in 1781, and died on August 3, 1806, in Marcellus, New York. Mary stitched her sampler while her family was living in Marcellus. She did not marry, and died on January 30, 1869. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. The sampler descended in the family of her brother, Ira.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1818
- maker
- Cook, Mary
- ID Number
- TE*T13201
- catalog number
- T13201
- accession number
- 250307
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Alcinda C. Timberlake's Sampler
- Description
- Three block alphabets of 26 letters. One script alphabet with no "J." Numbers to 12 and to 6. All these rows separated by simple geometric crossbands. One wide crossband, grapevine, worked in free embroidery, with brown guidelines under stitches. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, long-armed cross, rice, Algerian eye, queen, outline, stem, satin, gobelin. THREAD COUNT: warp 25, weft 26/in.
- Inscriptions:
- "Do as you would be done by
- Alcinda C: Timberlake, Char
-lestown Virginia 1817."
- Background:
- Alcinda Timberlake was born about 1803 and married Harfield Timberlake, Jr. on June 18, 1822, in Charlestown, Virginia. Their son Henry Carter Timberlake, born in 1835, taught at Mississippi College. He married Alice Jordan and they named one of their girls Alcinda after his mother. This granddaughter donated her grandmother's sampler. West Virginia became a state in 1863, and Charlestown is now part of West Virginia.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1817
- maker
- Timberlake, Alcinda C.
- ID Number
- TE*T13497
- catalog number
- T13497
- accession number
- 254795
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Amanda Hinds' Sampler
- Description
- One script alphabet; no "J," "O," "T," or "U." Two block alphabets, one of 26 letters; these rows separated by simple crossbands. All lettering on sampler black. Below inscription, tulip, paired flower baskets, and trees. Center square outlined by sawtooth band, as outer edge of border. Border of wide geometric flowering vine with pair of small geometric motifs in upper corners and pair of flower baskets in lower corners. All four edges hemstitched. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: satin, cross, eyelet, queen, long-armed cross, hem. THREAD COUNT: warp 30, weft 27/in.
- Inscription:
- "Amanda Hindf[s]
1818"
- Background:
- Amanda may have been the daughter of Abraham Hinds or the daughter of David and Hannah Tucker Hinds.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1818
- maker
- Hinds, Amanda
- ID Number
- TE*T14663
- catalog number
- T14663
- accession number
- 279148
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Phoebe E. Downing's Sampler
- Description
- Three block alphabets of 26 letters and numbers to 0. Five scattered eyelet stitches and short row of tent and reverse tent. Initials "ID," "ED," MSD," "PED," "RID," and "SWD." Border of simple geometric band on top and two sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, rice, eyelet, crosslet, tent. THREAD COUNT: warp 23, weft 28/in.
- Inscription:
- "Phebe E 18 16 Downing"
- Background:
- Phoebe was born on December 23, 1807, to Joseph and Elizabeth Webster Downing in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Since the letters "I" and "J" were interchangeable, the initials "ID" were for her father, "ED" for her mother, "MSD" for her sister Mary S., "PED" for Phoebe, "RID" for brother Richard J., and "SWD" for sister Sarah W. An older brother Wesley R. died before the sampler was made, and another sister Thomazine was born after the sampler was made. Phoebe did not marry and died on August 20, 1849.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1816
- maker
- Downing, Phoebe E.
- ID Number
- TE*T17754
- catalog number
- T17754
- accession number
- 316364
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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