Length of Cheney Brothers bottle green silk grosgrain (weft ribbed) ribbon with a moire finish (embossed wavy lines) 4 3/4" wide. Cheney Brothers was one of the earliest and perhaps the longest-lived of all American silk textile manufacturing companies. Its mill complex was a vertical operation which employed much of the population of South Manchester, Connecticut, for decades.
Man's silk cravat; Gift of Cheney Brothers, Sept. 22 1921. All silk; Jacquard woven pattern. Woven in tubular form. Cone (paisley?) pattern in red, green, and blue on black. Original number 3075.
NB: 1920s terminology for men's neckwear was different than late 20th-21st century terminology. Cravat was correct for the period.
Sample length of Cheney Brothers dress silk, warp-faced plain weave taffeta. All-silk. Yarn dyed; wide pink and white warp stripes with 2 narrow pink stripes on each side of the white stripe. Fairly stiff, medium sheen. Pink and cream warp stripes, white silk weft yarns.
Sample length of a Cheney Brothers midweight, semi-stiff finish, solid cut pile black silk velvet. Black silk pile warp, black cotton ground warp and weft. Red cotton warp in the twill selvage edges. One cut edge is machine hemmed (serged or merrowed with red thread). (W. 18-1/2 in., L. 1 yard.) Possibly a millinery or trimming fabric as it is a narrow fabric off the loom.
One of two sheets of an enlarged textile design for pantograph plates; for Cheney Brothers printed Samara silk. Fabric sample catalogue number - T2830. Also related to T2829, 3 specimens, zinc plates for pantograph machine.
A length of Cheney Brothers warp-printed furnishing fabric, 1913. Design in predominantly blue, beige, and black, with a smallish, densely packed, jacquard woven repeat design of floral motifs with Chinoiserie elements, such as cloud scrolls and vases; a hazy color block effect underlying the woven pattern, created by the use of a printed warp. Made with two warps, one printed before weaving, and one plain, with 1 7/8 yards of warp attached at one end in order to show the appearance of the warp before woven into the goods. The CB logo is woven in to the opposite end. Mfrs. #s: Com. 4918; No. 79079; Color 3468/27. A full selvage width.
Length of Cheney Brothers light brownish-pink, Ottoman rib weave, silk ribbon. 5 11/16" wide. Double-faced. Two sets of warp yarns, pinkish on one side, brownish-black on the reverse. Cheney Brothers was one of the earliest and perhaps the longest-lived of all American silk textile manufacturing companies. Its mill complex was a vertical operation which employed much of the population of South Manchester, Connecticut, for decades.
A length of Cheney Brothers all-silk dress velvet, "Velours Chiffon" in golden yellow. A solid cut pile fabric with a soft hand. Short cut pile in silk against a plain weave silk ground that is more densely woven than a true chiffon. Original cataloging: Piece dyed organzine pile fabric #15b, with ground warp and filling of organzine silk. Used for dresses, cloaks, wraps, etc. Color:#6480 Citron (yellow). Wholesale $6.00 per yard.
Cheney Brothers Educational poster, with images of Japanese Silk Production, showing the stages of raising and reeling raw silk in Japan. Starting with gathering leaves to reeling raw silk. Cheney Silks, Cheney Brothers Manufacturers, South Manchester, CT.
Cheney Brothers men's fancy accordion knit cravats in the piece, 1913. Black and copper-color (dull orange), Fancy accordion knit.silk cravats, three ties in one piece, as it comes from the knitting machine. At some point in its past this length has been cut into two pieces, each containing one and one-half tie lengths. (Numbering now reflects this: T01005.001, .002)
Man's silk scarf (neckwear) of Persian striped peau de soie, by Cheney Brothers, 1913 Brown plain weave ground with a center woven patterned stripe in a repeating Persian or Indian shawl type lozenge design in red, blue, yellow. Tubular weave.
Sample of Worsted Yarn, used by Cheney Brothers, 1913. Manufactured and supplied by the Lafayette Worsted Company. Unbleached, gassed, 30/3 quality. Used by Cheney Brothers in weaving wool and silk fabrics. Lafayette Worsted Co. was a Franco-Belgian owned firm that operated a worsted spinning mill in Woonsocket, RI, beginning in 1899, and on through the 1950s. This type of worsted yarn was especially sought after for weaving fine fabrics, including Cheney Brothers' silk and wool dress fabrics, samples of which were donated by Cheney Brothers to the Nationa Museum (now NMAH)
A length of lightweight satin-weave silk, printed with a modernist design of of flower heads and leaves on a tan ground. Ground cloth is satin weave silk, light but having more body than charmeuse. The floral design has a 'stencil' effect, with each element separate from the others and outlined in solid black. Company titled the design "Bulgarian". Colors are saturated, Fauve inspired: bright green, magenta, yellow, and medium brown with black. T1033,1034,and 1035 are colorways of the same design. Part of a large donation of fibers, yarns, fabrics, original designs, and printing tools given by Cheney Brothers, one of the earliest and largest of America's silk manufacturers, in 1913.
