Shears for pruning mulberry trees; Japan; ca. 1900

Shears for pruning mulberry trees; Japan; ca. 1900

Usage conditions apply
Downloads
Description
Shears for pruning mulberry trees; used in sericulture in Japan. Transferred from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology sericulture display, July 9, 1912.
At various points in American history, from colonial times onward, people experimented with sericulture - meaning the raising of silkworms and reeling of silk filaments from silkworm cocoons. At first it was hoped that this silk could be shipped to Great Britain for use in its silk textile manufacturing industry. Experiments in the 1760s and after, into the early 20th century, hoped to raise enough silk to support an American silk textile industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, efforts in California and other (primarily) western states were supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a display in the department's headquarters building in Washington, DC. The display also highlighted the imports of raw silk from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East that most manufacturers used in their products. The contents of the display were transferred to the (then) U.S. National Museum in 1912, for exhibition in the Textile Hall, as educational background for the exhibition of silk textiles manufactured in the US.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
shears, pruning
shears
date made
ca. 1900
place made
Japan
Measurements
overall: 1 in x 2 3/8 in x 9 1/2 in; 2.54 cm x 6.0325 cm x 24.13 cm
ID Number
TE.T01101.00B
catalog number
T01101.00B
accession number
54306
catalog number
T1101
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1912
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Textiles
American Silks
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.   

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.

Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.