A length of H.R. Mallinson's printed rayon pile, silk ground fabric: "Orchid tissue Velvet": Sheer plain weave Japan silk ground with a double-woven (shared pile yarn joining two ground cloths woven face to face simultaneously) rayon pile. Discharge printed in a cut gemstone or jewel effect of small octagons. The manufacturer's description of the process is: "The fabric is piece-dyed for discharge (meaning with a special dye) in a ground color, and the pile made to lie in one direction. The fabric is then run through the printing machine where the pattern is printed on the pile surface, which is afterward erected and finished. With the colors put on in the printing process is mixed a discharge chemical which removes or bleaches the ground color where it is not wanted in the pattern."
The manufacturer's numbers are: fabric quality # 832; pattern # 680; color # 7 (gold with two shades of green and a blue).
A length of piece dyed fabric "Pussy Willow Silk". Solid color coordinate to Mallinson's Playgrounds of the World series of printed dress silks. Pussy Willow was one of the Mallinson firm's longest lasting and most popular trade name fabric qualities. It is a fine. soft,plain weave fabric of a type known at the time as " radium". Pussy Willow was guranteed to be pure-dye and tub-fast, or washable without losing color. This is the gray sample, one of 6 solid color samples of Pussy Willow that coordinate with the print designs for the Playgrounds of the World series.
6 samples - Grey #124; green #906; beige #4889;(2 pieces); straw #6133; old ivory #10511
A length of M. C. Migel & Co., Inc. "Ad Hoc" printed "Pussy Willow" Taffeta Brocade. Pure-dye, piece dyed, satin brocade taffeta, over printed by "Ad Hoc " process; first example of use in the U.S.
Warp float patterned jacquard woven floral with over-printed design of rose stems. 4 colorways of same design (T1449,T1450,T1451,T1452);. This colorway has a dark blue ground with flowers in pinks, oranges, reds, yellows, greens, and light blue accent.
M.C. Migel & Co., which in 1915 became H.R. Mallinson & Co., Inc., was known for innovation in silk design and silk manufacturing technology.
Stewart Silk Co pink crepe de chine pink fabric length; 1914.
John Wood Stewart was born in 1856 in New York City. In 1897 he acquired an interest in the Phillipsburg Silk Mill Company, which he later took over, expanding into South Easton, Pennsylvania, with a new mill and the addition of the Eastern Throwing Company, a throwing mill. The Perfect Dyeing and Finishing Company was also shortly added, and these three eventually incorporated to create the Stewart Silk Company. The company's mills were in Pennsylvania, the sales offices in New York City. John Stewart died in 1922. Commercial Factors Company purchased the Stewart Silk Mills in 1930.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co's trade name "Indestructible" Crepe as it comes off the loom. Unfinished silk semi-sheer crepe, similar to "Georgette". This process sample illustrates how the fabric is woven in the grey, as it comes off the loom. The sample is in the raw, unfinished, undyed state.
Yard length of printed silk and cotton crepe. Pattern of chrysanthemums in pink, green and tan on a white ground. National Silk Dyeing Co.; 1913. One of twenty examples of silk woven in the raw and printed in the piece. Original sample # 173. From a group of 145 samples of silk fabrics and yarns of various types, weaves, uses, and origins donated in 1913 by the National Silk Dyeing Co., of Paterson, New Jersey (America's "Silk City"), which was one of the largest and most comprehensive silk dyeing and printing firms in the U.S.
A length of the "Sioux War bonnet" design dress silk; Mallinson's American Indian series. The manufacturer's number for this fabric quality (Pussy Willow) is #5459. Pussy Willow was a long time Mallinson trade name for an unweighted, pure dye plain weave silk with a soft hand.. At the time it was popular it was considered similar to a generic fabric type called "radium". This is a large sample with small colorway samples attached. The Sioux War Bonnet design is an allover repeat pattern, with a non-directional effect; based on the large feathered headdress of the Sioux Indians. Judging from drawings by free-lance textile designer Walter Mitschke in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Mitschke designed this print and several others in Mallinson's American Indian and Early American series.
Mallinson's American Indian series followed the "National Parks" and "Wonder Caves of America" designs, and illustrates the company's continuing interest in using American themes, and in utilizing the collections of New York area museums for research and inspiration.
