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Patterns of Printed Textile Scholarship


September

Ducks Quilt

’Very full of work’: Patterns of printed textile scholarship

Presented by Laura Johnson

Saturday, September 18, 2021, 10am PT Online Presentation via Zoom Admission: Free to TAC Members, $5 Students and members of FAMSF, $10 General Admission. Purchase Tickets Here

Zoom link will be emailed to all TAC members


Join Dr. Laura Johnson, the Linda Eaton Associate Curator of Textiles at the Winterthur Museum for this illustrated talk highlighting the history of printed textiles and those who studied, made, and consumed them from the eighteenth century to the present day.

When Philadelphians such as the Wisters ordered fashionable printed cottons in the mid-eighteenth century, they demanded that patterns be “Very full of Work.” An identical description might apply to the efforts of those who save and share those same textiles. Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library stewards an extraordinary collection of printed and painted textiles that founder Henry Francis du Pont began assembling in the mid-1920s. In her 2014 introduction to Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons and Linens, 1700-1850, Senior Curator of Textiles Linda Eaton offered a concise and thorough grounding in the history of printed textile scholarship. Now Curator Emerita, Linda Eaton is the latest in a long line of curators that began with the inimitable Florence M. Montgomery. Her work connects Mr. du Pont and Winterthur’s collection to an international group of scholars working in the first half of the twentieth century. Julia Brenner, whose collection Laura Camerlengo’s new exhibition at the de Young Museum helps celebrate, was part of the same national trend to save and share these important textiles. Mr. du Pont, like Brenner, deeply appreciated both their beauty and their often complicated history.

Today’s research interests in global markets, the role of enslaved persons in production and consumption of printed goods, and even industrial espionage all have roots in the work these collectors and curators began.




Image Credits: 1. Ducks, Talwin and Foster, Bromley Hall Printworks. Quilt made 1810-1850 from textile printed 1765-75. Madder cotton. Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. Gift of Henry Francis du Pont. 1956.0614.001. 2. Photo courtesy of Laura Johnson.

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VISITOR INFORMATION

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The Textile Arts Council is a curatorial support organization of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Textiles are displayed at the de Young Museum and at the Legion of Honor, which together form the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

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de Young Museum
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Golden Gate Park
San Francisco CA 94118
Tue thru Sun, 9:30am — 5:15pm

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100 34th Avenue
Lincoln Park
San Francisco CA 94121
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The membership of the Textile Arts Council elects volunteers to serve on the Textile Arts Council Board to govern the organization.

For inquiries or information, please contact our TAC administrator at (415) 750-3627.

You may also reach us via email tac@famsf.org

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