Unevenly cut selvage width strip of woolen apparel fabric in black with white pinstripes. Badly deteriorating. Handwritten gold & white glued paper label: "From Roubaix, France, 20720 90/100 1 45 (/) grisaille bonhomme"
Roubaix was the premier wool weaving center in France; producing fine fabrics for both the domestic and export markets. It is likely that this group of selvage width strips of wool were all collected by a US Consular officer and sent back to the Dept. of Commerce as an example of the quality of the competition American woolen manufacturers faced in products from Roubaix.Consular Collection: Part of collection of samples acquired by US Consuls overseas between about 1898 and 1918, in the interests of promoting US trade and business opportunities; which was transferred by the Dept. of Commerce in the 1920s-30s.