Sample length of natural colored silk, "boiled off", meaning the sericin has been removed, and the cloth finished for sale to the garment trade. Plain weave, undyed, unbleached, flecked with brown slubs. Known as "Armistice Silk", Quality C, converted surplus World War I Cartridge Cloth; A piece of the 18,000,000 yards of surplus cartridge cloth remaining after World War I. Sold by the Salvage Board at $1.17 per yard.
Goetz Silk Mfg Co lining fabric sample. Cotton back silk satin in purple, 1914. Lining silk: "Cotton Back Satin" Warp silk, weft cotton. Purple color. White stripe on selvedge, wrong side says Goetz in the selvedge. One end is pinked and the other is frayed.
David Goetz was born in Lyons, France in 1844 and came to America in 1878. He was the son of a silk manufacturer and brought that trade with him. He worked with William Skinner and Sons in Florence and Holyoke, Massachusetts until 1892. At that point he opened Goetz Silk Manufacturing Company. It was active until about 1930.
A length of a novelty printed silk, Mallinson trade name "Mandarin Crepe." This is a plain weave having a distinct cross thread . The design, which was hand block-printed, is titled "The Development of the Loom," and within reserves created by stylized modernist flowers sit three types of looms: hand loom, early power loom, jacquard loom - all captioned. Figures in period-appropriate dress also inhabit the reserves with the looms. The treatment is modernist, with bold lines, stylized flower forms, and a loose, painterly style of drawing and coloring. The captions and selvage inscription are in black in a freehand printed style. Designed by Martha Ryther for Mallinson.
Cheney Brothers Pigment-printed silk satin, 1913. Satin weave silk in pale blue, naturalistic printed design of Cosmos flowers, in a tossed, non-directional layout, in white and pink with twining stems in green and brown. The white sections are matte-finished on both the face and reverse - initial cataloging suggests a pigment print. (Dimensions: W. 30 in., L. 36 in.). Designed by Sophie Crownfield. A second colorway on a pale yellow ground is also in the collection: T01023. Cheney description: "This is a decorative material used for the manufacture of kimonos, sofa cushions, bedspreads, lambrequins, etc." In this instance 'kimono' means women's wrappers or dressing gowns.
Skein of Raw Silk, Cheney Brothers, 1913. China or Tsatlee silk. White. 1 skein. Part of gift illustrating all the steps in making silk textiles at the Cheney Brothers mill in South Manchester, CT. Sales offices: 4th Ave. and 18th St., New York City
Samuel Eiseman & Co., jacquard figured silk and cotton fabric sample; 1915. Jacquard figured dress silk. A cotton backed satin, having a silk warp and a combed cotton filling. Jacquard figured in a floral patttern. Length is 16 inches and the edges are frayed, cut unevenly. White ground with white floral design. The first material of its kind to be made in the state of New Hampshire.
Previous name of the company was Eiseman Bros. from 1881-1898. The trade name was – SECO – acronym for Samuel Eiseman & Co. It was a silk dress goods sales agency and converter, which also operated mills in New Hampshire. Goods were sold through the headquarters and sales offices in New York City. The company dissolved in the early 1930s. Founder - Samuel Eiseman
A length of printed pure dye silk crepe. Soft lustrous plain weave fabric. Pattern "Starry Stripes", one of the H.R. Mallinson & Co. George Washington Bicentenniel print series. Overall pattern of iny white stars on a blue ground in a lengthwise stripe layout.
William Skinner and Sons "Escape Parachute Cloth," or "Canopy Cloth" white silk twill fabric length, 1941.
Lightweight, soft silk fabric used in making soldiers' parachutes. Commercial names: Escape Parachute Cloth or Canopy Cloth. Manufacturer's notes: Twill weave, 2 x 1. Quality Exp 302A, Lot No. 47539. Color white. Thread count 288 x 84. Used in World War II. Woven in Holyoke, MA by William Skinner and Sons. Small rivet-like indentions on one side of the length, spanning all the way across every few inches.
A length of printed pure dye silk crepe. Soft lustrous plain weave fabric. Pattern "Washington Floral": one of the H.R. Mallinson & Co. George Washington Bicentennial print series. According to company publicity at the time the line was introduced, this allover tossed design of tiny flowers and rosebud clusters was inspired by a motif in an old brocade worn by Mrs. James Duane at the Washington Inaugural Ball.
Length of silk suiting: "Herringbone Stripe". An all silk fabric interlaced with broken twill "herringbone" weave, broken warp-ways only, the weave showing plainly on the face of the fabric. Originated by John G. Bentley, for men's wear. Heavy weight silk warp finer than the weft yarns, The chevron effect of the broken twill weave giving a subtle striped effect. One sample in blue; one with black warp and very dark brown weft.
Length of Cheney Brothers printed silk fabric, "Mysore Silk". Thin plain weave silk, Tussah yarns (wild silk) retain some sericin. Printed with allover design of vaguely Chinese style, with pomegranate branches, leafy scrolls, and large urns. Black ground, pattern in coral, light and medium blue, bright blue, yellow, and green.
Original cataloging: Printed Mysore silk. A plain canvas-like fabric made of tussah silk. Oriental pattern in 8 colors on a black ground. Width: 32"
Sample length of a Cheney Brothers midweight silk-pile velvet, 1913. Silk pile warp; cotton ground warp and weft. Solid cut pile. Selvages are white twill weave with an inner black warp stripe. Color: Scarlet (W. 18 in., L. 1 yd). Possibly a millinery or trimming velvet, since it is a narrow fabric.
Four Cylinders of Cheney Brothers dyed sIlk yarns, 1913. Different colors. 4 cylinders, 1 in. Dia., L. 4-1/4 in. Part of gift illustrating all the steps in making silk textiles at the Cheney Brothers mill in South Manchester, CT. Sales offices: 4th Ave. and 18th St., New York City
A length of Cheney Brothers printed "Sweetbriar" tradename silk. Lightweight, slightly sheer, plain weave fabric. Design No. 65974, "Vine and Baskets" Color No. 8051/4. Design: Green, pink, orange, yellow, black flowering vines in blue and green baskets. Vines form hexagons on white ground. Design is somewhat modernist in styling - simplified forms, but in a Neo-Classical arrangement. (W. 30 in., 36 in.)
Skein of "Emerald" green organzine. A type of thrown silk; Usually used for warp yarns in fine silk fabrics. Manufacturer tag reads: "Organzine. Used for warp in ribbons and broad silks".
One of 66 examples of silk yarns of various types, dyed in the skein.. Original sample # 13. 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 "Martine" silk by the Duplan Silk Company of Hazleton, PA. This design titled "Pekin", on quality "Crepe Chinois", a lightweight plain weave silk with slubbed weft yarns like a shantung. Printed design of wide and narrow irregular stripes in brown, blue, olive green, and orange. This example was cylinder printed. Duplan's publicity touts this series of silk dress fabrics as "Woven, printed, and finished in the US, sold and delivered in Paris and London. Designs by the Martine School of Decorative Art, Paris, France. Directed, owned, and personally supervised by Mr. Paul Poiret, who is universally acknowledged as the greatest creator of women's fashions of the present century." In the press these were called "Futurist Flowers", and there were supposedly 8 designs in total that Duplan licensed from Poiret. The NMAH Textiles collection holds six samples, four designs, two designs in two colorways on two different ground cloths.
A H Straus & Co 'Luxor Taffeta' dress silk, Renaissance design; 1917. Luxor taffeta made by A H Straus and Company. A lustrous, reversible fabric with a discharge printed, "composite design of the old French School. Example of textile industry of the 14th and 15th centuries." Stripes of faded dye throughout the length. Colors are green, yellow, and black on a 'lucifer' (dark bluish-red) ground. Stripes of alternating green pine cone and gold roundel motifs are separated from each other by 1.25 inches and are parallel to the selvedge edge. The ground is printed in two shades of 'lucifer' - with a palmette pomegranate ogee design taken from Renaiisance damasks and velvets. carefully situated between the more brightly colored stripes.
A. H. Straus and Co. was active in the 1910s and 1920s. The company was based in New York City and was a premier importer and manufacturer of printed silks. Many fabric lengths in this collection have prints copied from ancient textiles.
Length of Cheney Brothers printed silk frisons fabric. Plain weave with thick, irregular, slubbed spun silk weft. Printed with modernist design of irregular, multi-color spots in saturated Fauve colors: purple, red, yellow, blue, and green on light brown background. 6"x 8" sample cut from corner of sample. (W. 30 in., L. 36 in.) Com. 3755; No. 77361; Color 3724/2.