Towel

Description

This towel displays traditional German motifs (such as a peacock and birds in a nest) in a symmetrical arrangement. Made in Pennsylvania Dutch and German communities, towels of this type were typically made by older women, as they are technically more difficult and elaborate to create than samplers. The height of towel production for purely decorative use occurred during the 1830s.

Towel

Elizabeth Borgholder

1831

Accession Number

62506

Medium

Linen, plain weaves; pieced; cut and drawn thread work embroidered with cotton and linen in overcast and darning stitches; pulled thread work with linen in loop stitches; embroidered with cotton in cross and darning stitches; warp fringe; tapes of linen, plain weave

Dimensions

145.1 × 32.1 cm (57 1/8 × 12 5/8 in.)

Classification

textile

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Decorative Arts Auction Account