Image features: Tablecloth with square and rectangular compartments containing whimsical scenes inspired by Mughal and Persian miniature paintings and book illustrations. Scenes include seated musician on a carpet surrounded by flowering trees and swans, elephants with howdahs strapped to their backs, riders on horseback with parasols, and figures seated in elaborate garden pavilions. Primarily in shades of green, blue and pink. Click to navigate to a list of articles on Cooper Hewitt's blog.

Object of the Week

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On top of a crumbling gray brick wall is a copy of the exhibition catalog Willi Smith: Street Couture. On the cover of this book, three models primp and pose in their WilliWear. The model on the right has rich-medium skin and wears an oversized headbow and loosefitting pink dress. The model in the center has olive skin tone and wears a flowing white caftan and a black turban. The model on the right, a male who is slightly out of the frame of the photo, wears a white t-shirt decorated with black handprints and shorts printed with a black and white pattern. He rests his hands behind his head, is wearing sunglasses, and is smiling broadly. They are standing in front of an orange curtain.

Willi Smith Community Archive

Understanding the American designer’s life, work, and times