Three sample lengths of printed "Khaki Kool," Mallinson tradename for a rough finish sport silk: Rough surface crepe fabric woven with warp of tussah silk and weft of tussah loosely twisted with a silk crepe yarn. Selvage width; selvage inscription. Printed with National Park series "Garden of the Gods" design; in three different color combinations (on grounds of white, orange, and mauve). In late 1926 American silk manufacturer H. R. Mallinson & Co. introduced a bold new line of printed silks, twelve landscape designs, each available in from eight to twelve colorways (color combinations) on three different ground fabrics. The designs celebrated America's National Parks - then only a decade old. The designs represented all the usual styles necesssary for making clothing: allover prints, horizontal stripes, checks, a border design, etc. These samples illustrate how strikingly different a single design can appear by changing the colors of the ground and design elements.
In late 1926 American silk manufacturer H.R. Mallinson & Co. introduced a bold new line of printed silks, twelve landscape designs, each available in from eight to twelve colorways (color combinations) on three different ground fabrics. The designs celebrated America's National Parks - then only a decade old. The designs represented all the usual styles necesssary for making clothing: allover prints, horizontal stripes, checks, a border design. This overall design depicts Bridal Veil Falls at Yosemite National Park, on Mallinson's trademark Pussy Willow silk. The firm donated two different colorways of this design, one with a tan ground and one with a green ground. .
Five sample lengths of a printed silk sheer, Mallinson tradename "Indestructible Chiffon Voile". Selvage width; selvage inscription. A sheer, plain weave all silk fabric printed with National Park series "Garden of the Gods" design; samples of five different color combinations (ground color are: peach, grey, blue, green, and orange). In late 1926 American silk manufacturer H.R. Mallinson & Co. introduced a bold new line of printed silks, twelve landscape designs, each available in from eight to twelve colorways (color combinations) on three different ground fabrics. The designs celebrated America's National Parks - then only a decade old. The designs represented all the usual styles necesssary for making clothing: allover prints, horizontal stripes, checks, a border design, etc. These samples illustrate how strikingly different a single design can appear by changing the colors of the ground and design elements.
This pillow case, one of a pair, is pieced of white cotton and a printed cotton with a small colored figure and a red ground. Lining is printed cotton with a small blue and yellow floral figure on a ground of pink and brown stripes and yellow dots.
After a young lady learned to embroider a sampler, she might attend a female academy to make a silk embroidered picture. This was a more challenging technique that became popular in the early 1800s. Subjects included classical, biblical, and historical scenes, as well as mourning pictures.
This rectangular embroidered picture portrays a young man and woman and a dog in a pastoral scene with a floral wreath border around all the edges. The man and woman are in Regency style clothing. The faces, dark curly hair, arms, and hands are painted, as is the sky background. The floral border is elaborate, with much detail. The glass mat, which has been removed, has a reverse one-inch band painted black with a 1/4" gold band around the edges. In the lower band is the name SOPHIA HARSEN. The ground is ivory sheer cotton fabric, sewn to a silk satin after it was embroidered. The thread is silk floss and chenille and the stitches are laid, straight, and satin
There is a Sophia Harsen born July 10, 1815, in New York City, New York. Further research is needed to find other silk embroidered pictures of this style worked with a provenance of New York City to substantiate this attribution.
Canvas work knitting needle holder of floral design. Long narrow rectangle with lower end pointed. Face is cross stitched in wool yarns with a band of flowers on a beige ground. Typical of Berlin wool work, which is a style of embroidery similar to today's needlepoint.
Quilted in Topeka, Indiana, in the first half of the twentieth century, this is an example of the pattern referred to as “Path through the Woods.” Made of cottons, mainly solid colored tan and red, the blocks are framed by a 2¼-inch red inner border and a 6½-inch tan outer border. The quilt has a blue binding. It is both hand- and machine-pieced; the blocks are joined with machine stitching. An 8-pointed star is quilted in the center of each block. This is an instance of Amish quilting done outside of traditional Pennsylvania areas.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Carpenter Pickering made this appliquéd quilt while living in St. Clairsville, Ohio. According to family information, she began work on the quilt when a friend, John Bruce Bell, left St. Clairsville to accompany a wagon train to the Oregon Territory. He returned eight years later, and they were married. Her grandson, Robert S. Bell, wrote that Mary made the quilt “to make the time go more quickly” while John Bell was away in the Oregon Territory. The quilt is said to have won a blue ribbon at the Ohio State Fair in the early 1850s.
Baskets of flowers are appliquéd on nine blocks. These motifs are raw-edged, held down by close buttonhole stitching. The blocks alternate with all-white blocks that feature stuffed motifs of fruit and flower baskets, grapes and leaves, sprays of leaves and flowers, and a wreath. An appliquéd flowering-vine border completes the overall design of the quilt.
The background quilting patterns are parallel horizontal and diagonal lines about ¼-inch apart, 13 stitches to the inch. Roller-printed cottons are used for appliquéd motifs; the lining is plain white cotton. “Mary C. Pickering. St. Clairsville Ohio” is prominently back-stitched in black silk on one of the white blocks.
Mary Carpenter Pickering was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1831. She married John Bruce Bell on September 3, 1861, at New Athens, Ohio. Shortly after their marriage, John Bell joined the Union Army in 1862 for service in the Civil War. He was honorably discharged from the army in 1863 with disabilities that lasted for the rest of his life. They moved to Keokuk County, Iowa, in 1864 and raised nine children, three still living in the 1890s. Mary died in 1900. Her prize-winning appliquéd quilt was handed down in her family for three generations before being donated to the Smithsonian in 1981.