American Yardage

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Meteor Shower
1913
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

A.H. Straus & Co. - New York
Peruvian
1917
discharge-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

A.H. Straus & Co. - New York
Saracenic
1917
discharge-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Zantine
1917
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Sweetbriar
1917
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Duplan Silk Corp. - New York
Floral Clusters
1921
silk-satin crepe
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

 Martha Ryther for H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Development of the Loom
1923
block-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Mysore
1925
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Crater Lake, Oregon
1927
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Flower Market of the Madeleine
1928
roller-printed silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

H.R. Mallinson & Co. - New York
Betsy Ross / Liberty Bell
1929
roller-printed silk crepe
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Joe Martin for Schumacher & Co. - New York
Bird Zoo
ca. 1949
screenprinted cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cheney Brothers - Manchester, Conn.
Antique Satin
1951
silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Alexander Girard for Herman Miller
Ribbons
1957
screenprinted linen furnishing fabric
Art Institute of Chicago

David Jamison
Park
(repeat image of Park Avenue, New York)
1990
printed polyester and viscose
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Wallace Sewell for Designtex - New York
Clerkenwell
2014
wool
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Wallace Sewell for Designtex - New York
Myddleton
2014
wool
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

From far, from eve and morning

    And yon twelve-winded sky,

The stuff of life to knit me

    Blew hither: here am I.

Now– for a breath I tarry

    Nor yet disperse apart  –

Take my hand quick and tell me,

    What have you in your heart.

Speak now, and I will answer,

    How shall I help you, say;

Ere to the wind's twelve quarters

    I take my endless way.

– A.E. Housman (1896)

American Frocks

Anonymous American Needleworker
Two-Piece Day Dress
ca. 1815-25
silk satins (striped and solid)
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1847
silk taffeta and embroidered silk chiffon
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Summer Dress
ca. 1855-65
printed silk gauze
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Ensemble worn by Mary Todd Lincoln
1861
silk velvet and silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1867
silk satin and needle lace
Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Anonymous American Needleworker
Ball Gown worn by Minnie Maddern Fiske in silent film Becky Sharp
1915
embroidered silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Evening Gown worn by Mrs Woodrow Wilson
1915
beaded silk crepe, silk satin and silk velvet
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Evening Gown worn by Mrs Woodrow Wilson
1916
brocaded silk satin and tulle
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown
1927
beaded silk satin crepe
National Museum of American History,
Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Coconut Grove Caricature Dress
(depicting silent film stars)
ca. 1927
printed silk
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Child's Dress
ca. 1930-40
silk satin
Anacostia Community Museum, Washington DC

Anonymous American Needleworker
Wedding Gown made from a World War II Parachute
1945
parachute silk
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Ruth Hensinger
Wedding Gown made from a World War II Parachute
1947
parachute nylon
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Ann Lowe
Dress
ca. 1960
silk taffeta and silk chiffon
National Museum of African American
History and Culture, Washington DC

Oleg Cassini
Evening Gown worn by Jacqueline Kennedy
ca. 1962
embroidered and beaded silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Carolina Herrera
Dress
ca. 1987
printed silk with ribbon trim
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Arnold Scaasi
Evening Gown worn by Barbara Bush
1989
silk velvet and silk satin
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

    In my own shire, if I was sad,

Homely comforters I had:

The earth, because my heart was sore,

Sorrowed for the son she bore;

And standing hills, long to remain,

Shared their short-lived comrade's pain.

And bound for the same bourne as I,

On every road I wandered by,

Trod beside me, close and dear,

The beautiful and death-struck year:

Whether in the woodland brown

I heard the beechnut rustle down,

And saw the purple crocus pale

Flower about the autumn dale;

Or littering far the fields of May

Lady-smocks a-bleaching lay,

And like a skylit water stood

The bluebells in the azured wood.

    Yonder, lightening other loads,

The seasons range the country roads,

But here in London streets I ken

No such helpmates, only men;

And these are not in plight to bear,

If they would, another's care.

They have enough as 'tis: I see

In many an eye that measures me

The mortal sickness of a mind

Too unhappy to be kind.

Undone with misery, all they can

Is to hate their fellow man;

And till they drop they needs must still

Look at you and wish you ill.

– A.E. Housman (1896)

Italian Efforts

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Collar of Point de Venise
ca. 1650-75
linen (raised needle lace)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Needleworker
Cape for ecclesiastical statue of the Bambino
c1750-
silk embroidery and sequins on silk satin
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Serpentine Twining Garland
17th century
cut and uncut silk velvet
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border of Point de Venise
17th century
linen (raised needle lace)
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Foral Repeat
18th century
silk-satin with woven-in pattern
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border of Gros Point de Venise
17th century
linen (raised needle lace)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Beasts and Birds
17th century
silk-satin with woven-in pattern
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border with St Anthony and the Christ Child
ca. 1625
linen (needle lace)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Floral Repeat
17th century
cut and uncut silk velvet
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border of Milanese Bobbin-Lace
17th century
linen
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

Anonymous Italian Weavers
Urns and Swags
19th century
silk-satin with woven-in pattern
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border
ca. 1580-1620
linen (needle-lace)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Needleworker
Fragment
17th century
silk appliqué and embroidery on silk satin
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border
ca. 1580-1600
linen (needle lace)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Joe Martin for Falconetto, Milan
Stone Links
ca. 1960
screenprinted cotton
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Brides alternating with Portes
ca. 1600
border of needle-lace (linen)
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Anonymous Italian Lacemaker
Border of Milanese Bobbin-Lace
ca. 1650
linen
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

The Merry Guide

Once in the wind of morning

    I ranged the thymy wold;

The world-wide air was azure

    And all the brooks ran gold.

There through the dews beside me

    Behold a youth that trod,

With feathered cap on forehead,

    And poised a golden rod.

With mien to match the morning

    And gay delightful guise

And friendly brows and laughter

    He looked me in the eyes.

Oh whence, I asked, and whither?

    He smiled and would not say,

And looked at me and beckoned

    And laughed and led the way.

And with kind looks and laughter

    And nought to say beside

We two went on together,

    I and my happy guide.

Across the glittering pastures

    And empty upland still

And solitude of shepherds

    High in the folded hill,

By hanging woods and hamlets

    That gaze through orchards down

On many a windmill turning

    And far-discovered town,

With gay regards of promise

    And sure unslackened stride

And smiles and nothing spoken

    Led on my merry guide. 

By blowing realms of woodland

    With sunstruck vanes afield

And cloud-led shadows sailing

    About the windy weald,

By valley-guarded granges

    And silver waters wide,

Content at heart I followed

    With my delightful guide.

And like the cloudy shadows

    Across the country blown

We two fare on for ever,

    But not we two alone.

With the great gale we journey

    That breathes from gardens thinned,

Borne in the drift of blossoms

    Whose petals throng the wind;

Buoyed on the heaven-heard whisper

    Of dancing leaflets whirled

From all the woods that autumn

    Bereaves in all the world.

And midst the fluttering legion

    Of all that ever died

I follow, and before us

    Goes the delightful guide,

With lips that brim with laughter

    But never once respond,

And feet that fly on feathers,

    And serpent-circled wand.

– A.E. Housman (1896)