Author: Kimberly Randall

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Image features a blouse with a round neckline and stitched pleats on either shoulder. Three snap closures on left proper shoulder. Long sleeved with banded cuff and snap closure. At the waist, belt loops are sewn on the seam. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Thematic Textiles
Inspired by the popularity of their printed series of fabrics entitled American National Parks (Spring 1927) and Wonder Caves of America (Fall 1927), H.R. Mallinson & Company maintained their creative momentum by returning to other American themes first visited during the “Designed in America” campaigns of the World War I period. Motivation also came from...
Image features: Constructivist-inspired design of ships, cranes, steel girders, and buildings in black and dark yellow on an off-white ground. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Machine Imagery
This Constructivist-inspired textile likely was produced in the United States during the mid-to-late 1920s. The designer is presently unknown, but presumably was an individual familiar with Russian Constructivist design principles, which took inspiration from the industrial world. Printed in dark yellow and black on creamy off-white silk satin, the textile has an overall design of...
Image features: a pleated fan, paper leaf with chromolithograph showing a bullfighting scene on the obverse. Girl dancing at a cafe frequented by bullfighters on the reverse. Varnished wood sticks with painted grain. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Don Luis and Iron Arm
Eleanor Garnier Hewitt (1864–1924) and Sarah Cooper Hewitt (1859–1930) gave identical Spanish pleated fans to the Museum for the Arts & Decoration at Cooper Union. Eleanor donated her fan in 1924 while Sarah’s came later in the form of a bequest in 1931 (acc. no. 1931-6-150). Both fans were signed in Seville on April 13,...
Image features: New England autumn landscape with its fire engine-red barns, rustic wooden fences, billowing clouds, and white church steeples nestled among the distant trees. Burnt orange foliage decorates the sunny and bright rolling pastures. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
American Splendor
Author: Janice Shapiro Hussain Aptly titled “American Splendor”, this textile captures the quintessential glory of the New England autumn landscape with its fire engine-red barns, rustic wooden fences, billowing clouds, and white church steeples nestled among the distant trees. Burnt orange foliage decorates the sunny and bright rolling pastures, signaling the crisp autumn air. The...
Image features a bookmark woven to show commemorative pictures, inscriptions. Top to bottom: a coat of arms of York; large building topped with flags, inscription "Yorkshire Fine Arts and Industrial Exhibition opened July 1866 Rt. Hon. James Meek Lord Mayor of York, President", garlanded portrait of a man, Roman ruins, and the inscription: "MULTANGULAR TOWER Each ivi'd arch and pillar lone, plead haughtily for glories gone." At bottom, heart-shaped motif with floral accents in red and blue. Colors: black, grey, orange, purple, green, on white ground. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A Rather Peculiar Looking Jacquard Loom
This silk bookmark was made by the workshop of Thomas Stevens to commemorate the 1866 Yorkshire Fine Arts and Industrial Exposition. From the top down, the bookmark shows the coat of arms of the city of York, an image of the pavilion built for the exposition, a portrait of the Mayor of York, James Meek,...
Image features: Rectangular hanging showing an abstracted figure of a man in profile. Border of long overlapping rectangles. Cut and stitched from wool felt in a wide range of brilliant colors, brown, black and gray. Signature "Fillia" in lower right corner in black thread stem stitch. In lower left corner "S.I.R.E." in yellow stem stitch. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Arte Feltro for Fillìa
This object was featured in Object of the Day on Feb. 10, 2015, and has been recently updated with new cataloging information. Fillìa was the adopted name of Italian Futurist artist Luigi Colombo (1904–1936). Fillìa’s association with the Futurists began with the second generation that rose to prominence during the 1920s. This next wave of...
Image features: Bookmark or stevengraph with a portrait medallion of Abraham Lincoln surmounted by an eagle perched on a shield flag that holds a banner in its beak that reads "E Pluribus Unum." Inscription at top reads: "Assassinated at Washington 14 April 1865," and just below another inscription: "I have said nothing but what I am willing to live by. And if it be the pleasure of Almighty God. To die by. (A Lincoln). Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Lincoln Bookmark
Stevengraphs are small woven pictures that depict famous buildings, historical events, iconic scenes, and prominent public figures such as royalty, politicians and athletes. They were produced by Thomas Stevens (English, 1828–1888), a Coventry weaver who customized the jacquard loom to produce small detailed pictures in bright colors. Stevens was compelled to make these innovations after...
Image features: Drapery sheer with vertical satin stripes, with an all-over irregular crinkle pleating. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Gin Fizz
Relying on innovative technologies to produce unusual surface textures, Jack Lenor Larsen (American, b. 1927) created Gin Fizz using a heat set process, which ultimately transforms a two-dimensional plane into a three-dimensional pleated surface. In his travels to Japan, Larsen met and befriended one of the most important twentieth century textile designers, Junichi Arai (Japanese,...
Image features: Fragment showing a design comprised of four blocks, based on a human and animal figures, and one with a geometric interlacing design, in maroon, green and blue. Design inspired by motifs found on the textiles of mummy bundles from the Bolivian Andes. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Bol-Inca by California Hand Prints
On November 21, 1939, Women’s Wear Daily reported on the upcoming launch of a new line of fabrics from the Bol-Inca Group. Under the art direction of Will Chappel, this group of eight fabrics took direct inspiration from a collection of original pre-Columbian fabrics purchased in Bolivia by fashion and accessories designer Alma Norton Duffill...