Sample cut of a Cheney Brothers printed Florentine silk. A thin, lightweight plain weave silk printed with a conventionalized fringed-petal flower and spiky leaf design with bands of craquelure in the background, on a black ground. Print colors: light blue, pink, light brown, green, gray,
Original cataloging: Printed Florentine silk. A light spun-silk filled pongee. Floral pattern in 7 colors on a black ground. Width: 32"
Grouping for this design includes the original painted design, the enlarged design sheets for creating the pantograph plates, and the plates for transferring the design to the copper rollers or cylinders.
Length of a Cheney Brothers Jacquard-woven silk upholstery fabric. A Jacquard figured, two-color, satin damask fabric with figure and ground of contrasting faces of the satin weave. Organizine warp and tram silk weft. Pattern is a Louis XVI period reproduction featuring a large scale conventionalized pattern with central motif of urns with roses, flanked and supported by foliate scrolls, birds, flowers, floral and pearl garlands and swags, and bowknots. Pearl-colored figure on rose ground. Wholesaled for $15 per yd. (W. 50 in., L. 36 in.)
These furnishing silks were, along with the patterned velvets, represent the most expensive and exclusive textiles that Cheney Brothers produced.
Cheney Brothers furnishing fabric, 1900-ca.1950. Selvage width sample of upholstery fabric woven with orange and green stripes. The green stripes are decorated with woven floral designs, 2 selvedges present, 2 edges finished with overcast stitching. Cheney Brothers CB logo is embroidered on one finished edge. (W. 52 in., L. 25 7/8)
At the turn of the twentieth century, the American textile industry was the most technologically advanced in the world. However, it was still dependent on Europe, especially France, for art and design. World War I cut off communication with the industry in Europe, and American manufacturers were forced to turn to American artists for design. The industry held contests, and sent designers and art students into museums to study paintings and objects for inspiration.
Students at the Chicago School of Art designed these fabrics in 1915. They were produced and sold by Marshall Field & Co. of Chicago and exhibited by the National Museum in 1916. The school (first known as the Chicago School of Applied and Normal Art) was founded by Emma Marion Church in 1908, the same year she published her book, The New Basis of Art Education. Ms. Church was a graduate of Pratt Institute, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and served a term as president of the Western Drawing and Manual Training Association from 1912 to 1913. A member of the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Art Institue, she was the first woman member of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. She died in Woodstock, Vermont in 1952.
Sample cut of House of Salt's "Kurltex" silk plush imitation Persian lamb fur fabric, 1914. Silk pile, cut and curled in Persian lamb effect; cotton back. Color: Black, 58" wide. The company, "House of Salt's" was the American branch (opened after the McKinley Tariff of 1890) of the important English firm founded by Sir Titus Salt, in Bradford, in the 1830s. Sir Titus also founded the industrial community of Saltaire, on principles of providing his workers with decent housing, and educational and cultural opportunities. Salt's various imitation furs, with silk or mohair pile, were given brand names such as Sealette, Esquimette, Meritex, Saltex Arabian Lamb, and Pomoire.
Sample cut of House of Salt's "Sealette" silk plush imitation fur fabric, 1914. Silk pile, cut; cotton back. Black, 50" wide. The company, "House of Salt's" was the American branch (opened after the McKinley Tariff of 1890) of the important English firm founded by Sir Titus Salt, in Bradford, in the 1830s. Sir Titus also founded the industrial community of Saltaire, on principles of providing his workers with decent housing, and educational and cultural opportunities. Salt's various imitation furs, with silk or mohair pile, were given brand names such as Sealette, Esquimette, Meritex, Saltex Arabian Lamb, and Pomoire.
Sample cut of House of Salt's "Pomoire" silk plush imitation fur fabric, 1914. Soft, luxuriant silk pile, cut; cotton back fabric of light weight. Color: Mole, 50" wide. The company, "House of Salt's" was the American branch (opened after the McKinley Tariff of 1890) of the important English firm founded by Sir Titus Salt, in Bradford, in the 1830s. Sir Titus also founded the industrial community of Saltaire, on principles of providing his workers with decent housing, and educational and cultural opportunities. Salt's various imitation furs, with silk or mohair pile, were given brand names such as Sealette, Esquimette, Meritex, Saltex Arabian Lamb, and Pomoire.