Sample of Collins & Aikman Corporation figured upholstery moquette (velvet), 1929. Solid cut pile jacquard-patterned cotton velvet, with dark red (wine colored) ground, and a non-directional pattern of scattered small flower sprigs and leaves in several colors: off white, yellow, golden-brown, light and medium lavender, purple, light, medium and dark green, pink, medium and dark red, dark brown. The warp pile patterning threads are carried down the back of the fabric when not in use, giving weight and thickness to the fabric. The color variations are organized in vertical bands across the fabric width: reds, yellows, purples. Half width. Machine overlocked on three sides; no selvage.
Collins & Aikman Corporation was founded in 1891 and incorporated in 1929. The company made high end upholstery fabrics, including velvets and plushes in cotton, mohair, and silk, and beginning in the 1910s, artifical silk (rayon). Early on the firm competed successfully in the market for automotive and aviation fabrics. In the 1920s the company had mills in Astoria (Queens), New York; Philadelphia, PA; and North Carolina.