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Steinberg’s Flowers
This sidewall was designed by Saul Steinberg (1914-1999), a Romanian/American artist much loved for the dozens of covers and twelve hundred cartoons he drew for The New Yorker. Here, his characteristic ink-work has been expertly copied by the screen printing processes of Piazza Prints, who manufactured this paper c. 1950-1955. Against a white ground, widely-spaced...
A Revival Revived
This sidewall was donated to the Cooper Hewitt by D. Lorraine Yerkes in 1941, along with several dozen other antique and contemporary wallpapers from her collection. Ms. Yerkes was an independent decorator, and founding member of the American Institute of Decorators, which still exists today as the American Society of Interior Designers. She ran her...
Coming Up Roses
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Cooper Hewitt is dedicating select Object of the Day entries to the work of women designers in our collection. Two delicate roses nestle on a creamy ground. Although drawn in grisailles, a monochromatic pallet of grays and black, the flowers achieve an astonishing realism. Anne Vallayer-Coster was a master...
Design Reform
Christopher Dresser, a disciple of Owen Jones, was an early design reformer and is considered by some to be the first industrial designer. In addition to designing wallpapers, textiles, carpets, ceramics, and metalwork for a wide variety of European and American manufacturers, he published several influential books, including The Art of Decorative Design (1862), Principles...
Woven to Shape
The intricate patterns on this cap precisely fit its shape, suggesting that the fabric was woven specifically for this purpose. Most likely produced professionally, the weaving, embroidery, and tailoring of caps such as this would have been completed in separate workshops. Wigs were common among men of many different social classes in eighteenth century France,...
Rolling Hills and Trees
This sampler, made by Laura Bowker (1805-1843), is part of a small group of pictorial samplers worked by girls from Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Each of the charming works features a woman standing in a pastoral setting with trees, rolling hills, a pair of lambs, and an oversized basket of flowers. These bonneted ladies hold bouquets...
Fashion Fusion
The Qing imperial rulers (1644-1911) were of Manchu ethnicity, and ruled over a mostly Han population. For centuries, Manchu women were required to wear long one-piece robes and Han women two-piece outfits that included a jacket and skirt. Featuring elements of both traditions, this Manchu jacket demonstrates the increasing fusion of these fashions in the...
Inspired by Her Travels
Batik, or resist-dye, is an ancient craft often associated with Indonesia, but practiced in regions throughout Africa and Asia. It became popular in United States in the 1910s and 20s, with artists such as Arthur Crisp, Pieter Mijer, and Lydia Bush-Brown attracting national attention. These artists worked in the traditional manner, painting paraffin and beeswax...
A Nightcap Before Bed
This 18th-century hat is called a nightcap, but it probably was not worn to bed. A man would use this cap to keep his head warm when he removed his wig, since a wig required short hair or a shaved head. A wig was proper attire for men of almost any status in 18th century...