Yard length of printed silk and cotton crepe; Pattern of roses in pink, red, and green 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 # 172. 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 H.R. Mallinson's printed Pussy Willow (trade name) silk fabric. Soft drapey plain weave, cylinder printed. Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2332/12. Printed with an allover, spaced, non-directional design of a variety of sea shells and sea life in fuchsia, gray-blue, orange, brown with black and white on a light peach ground. According to the manufacturer this series shows the adaptability of marine objects applied to dress materials. One of the designs taken from sketches by artist Helen Tee Van, who accompanied the New York Zoological Society sponsored trip to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe in 1925.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co.'s printed "chiffon brocade" in beiges, gray, and rose on a black ground. Novelty weft-figured, thin, gauze like fabric. Manufacturer's numbers: 535/2192/10. Woven leaf and stem ground pattern produced by extra weft thread of rayon, those that float on the back of the goods from one outline of the pattern to another are trimmed or "burned"off by printing with a chemical, leaving the raised design on a sheer ground. Overprinted (discharge?) with a repeating design of a large tropical moth by Helen Tee Van, from one of her sketches from the 1925 New York Zoological Society sponsored expedition to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe.
A length of printed Georgette Crepe. A thin sheer fabric dull in texture with a creped effect, Manufacturer numbers: quality #5721/ pattern 2210/ color 22. An engineered pattern repeating vertically along one edge, not quite across the width, of sea gulls flying in a dull orange and white. The design was introduced by H.R. Mallinson & Co. at the same time as, but perhaps not as part of, the "Beebe Expedition" print series.
A length of printed "Pussy Willow" silk, H.R. Mallinson & Co. trade name for a soft drapey plain weave fabric. Manufacturer's numbers (#900/2318). Allover repeating design of flying fish against a ground of water droplets/ocean spray from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. Colorway: three shades of blue, orange, tan, black, white.
A length of printed Mallinson's "Indestructible" Voile. A sheer, plain weave silk fabric. Manufacturer's numbers: #800/2321/4. All over printed pattern in rose, green, yellow, brown, black, and blue of square-rigged sailiing ships, other boats, and island fortresses against a busy sea made up of dashes and swirls of color. Released at the same time as, but not a part of, the 1925 Mallinson "Beebe expedition" print series.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co.'s trade name silk "Kameo Krepe". Closely woven crepe fabric #5998 similar in construction to crepe de chine; piece dyed reddish-brown (henna). A solid color coordinate to Mallinson's 1925 line of printed dress silks.
A length of printed Pussy Willow silk. Pussy Willow was the H.R. Mallinson & Co. trade name for a soft drapey plain weave fabric Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2322/4. Design by Helen Tee-Van of kelp from one of her original sketches - under-water studies of the dense Sargasso seaweed beds -- Van was an artist on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. Colorway: medium blue ground with design of waving and overlapping seaweed fronds in yellow, white, dull orange, black, and light blue.
A length of printed H.R. Mallinson trade name Indestructible Chiffon Velvet. This important 1920s fabric innovation is a very light, soft and pliable velvet with a rayon pile warp and a ground warp and weft of silk. This particular fabric quality was sometimes known as 'transparent velvet', because the ground weave was open and the rayon pile very light. This design is called "Flying Fish" and depicts an array of flying fish against a ground of water droplets/ocean spray from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. The design is the same as on T05453. Manufacturer's numbers:. fabric quality 831/ pattern 2318/ color 7. Colorway: blue-gray ground with orange, tans, white and black.
A length of printed Pussy Willow (Mallinson trade name) silk fabric. A soft drapey plain weave cylinder-printed with a design of starfish in pink, violet, orange, tan, light green, and off-white. Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2331/15. Spaced allover pattern of large and small starfish, some overlapping, some widely spaced. One of the designs taken from sketches by artist Helen Tee Van, who accompanied the New York Zoological Society sponsored trip to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe in 1925.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co. printed and voided chiffon velvet. Sheer gauze-like fabric of silk with a rayon pile figure. The fabric is woven as a solid velvet with rayon pile and silk base. Discharge medium that will remove only the rayon pile is applied by a printing cylinder engraved with the design. This removes pile not needed for pattern, leaving a sheer ground. Fabric is then overprinted in usual way. This design of seaweeds, printed in black and browns on a background design of bubbles and seaweed fronds in velvet pile against a yellow chiffon ground, may have been taken from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands.
A length of Mallinson's Morocco series printed silk crepe: "Ktibi". A smooth lustrous plain weave weighted silk fabric made with crepe weft yarn as in flat crepe. Company numbers - fabric quality #450; pattern #3613; color #11. Printed pattern of Arabic script in white with a small floral spray pattern in multicolor ("fleche d'or (yellow), parakeet green, white, and black on Chinese red ground") on red ground. One of H.R. Mallinson's 1930 "Morocco" print series, inspired by the film starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich, which was nomiated for 4 Academy Awards in 1931.
Once the Great Depression took hold in 1930, textile companies attempted to remain profitable by cutting costs, including moving from "Pure Dye" to "Weighted" silks: weighting meant adding a chemical to the dye bath that was absorbed by the silk and made it fel somewhat heavier and of a better quality.
A length of solid-color silk crepe chiffon from H.R. Mallinson & Co.. A thin gauze-like silk fabric composed of warp and weft of hard twisted singles and creped in lengthwise grooves somewhat like a serpentine crepe. Piece-dyed dark red. A solid color coordinate for Mallinson's Morocco print series.
A length of Mallinson's Morocco series printed silk crepe:"Sahrawi". A smooth lustrous plain weave silk fabric made with crepe weft yarn as in flat crepe. Company numbers - fabric quality #450; pattern #3612; color #22. Printed pattern of a desert flower, or dweller of the desert, a combination of floral ornamentation with Arabic script in a widely spaced, detached layout. Colors include: "dark brown, nebular gray, kuro gold, yellow, tan, and black on eggshell ground." One of H.R. Mallinson's 1930 "Morocco" print series, inspired by the film starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich, which was nomiated for 4 Academy Awards in 1931.
Once the Great Depression took hold in 1930, textile companies attempted to remain profitable by cutting costs, including moving from "Pure Dye" to "Weighted" silks: weighting meant adding a chemical to the dye bath that was absorbed by the silk and made it fel somewhat heavier and of a better quality.
A length of Mallinson's Morocco series printed silk crepe: "Zahra" design. A smooth lustrous plain weave weighted silk fabric made with crepe weft yarn, as in flat crepe. Company numbers - fabric quality #450; pattern #3613; color not given. Printed allover pattern, of a small floral design in bright colors, predominatly red and yellow, and Arabic characters in white on a black ground. One of H.R. Mallinson's 1930 "Morocco" print series, inspired by the film starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich, which was nomiated for 4 Academy Awards in 1931.
Once the Great Depression took hold in 1930, textile companies attempted to remain profitable by cutting costs, including moving from "Pure Dye" to "Weighted" silks: weighting meant adding a chemical to the dye bath that was absorbed by the silk and made it fel somewhat heavier and of a better quality.
