Very sheer ivory cotton muslin embroidered with clusters of flowers and a vine forming a scallop along the lower edge. The vines and stems are formed from crimped gold foil strips, the flower petals from gilt sequins, and the leaves from iridescent blue-green beetle elytra. Component (A) has ten pattern repeats, with partial bottom vine border.
Credit: Gift of Sarah Cooper Hewitt
19th century
Medium: cotton, beetle elytra, foil strips, metallic yarns, sequins Technique: embroidered on plain weave foundation Label: cotton embroidered with beetle elytra, foil strips, metallic yarns, and sequins
1931-25-1-a/d
Image and text © Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2020
Where you'll find this
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Permanent collection