Variation 4, "Bolling Crest" series, Sussex Print Works, 1915
date: label: date made
content: 1915
name: label: referenced
content: Wilson, Edith Bolling Galt
label: maker
content: Sussex Print Works
notes: label: Description
content: Sussex Print Works, 1915. Silk dress goods printed in black on white with a variation (S-226) of an "ant and swallow" design derived from the Bolling family crest in England, to honor the marriage of President Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt in December 1915. This variation has a thin black check on a white ground, with scattered larger squares, white squares containing black ants and black squares containing white birds. The use of strict black and white reflects the fact that color dyes were scarce due to the blockade of Germany by British ships during WWI. German firms were the primary holders of dye and colorant patents, , and the blockade created a critical shortage of dyestuffs in the still-neutral United States in 1915-1916. When the US entered the war in 1917, on the British side, the German dye patents were seized and turned over to American manufacturers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Newton
topic: label: Subject
content: World War I
label: related event
content: World War I
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: American Silks
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content: Bolling Crest Dress Silks
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content: American Silk Industry
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Sussex Print Works, Newton, NJ
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T02961
label: accession number
content: 59282
label: catalog number
content: T02961.000
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fabric length
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white ground (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: plain weave (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: cylinder printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 40 in; 91.44 cm x 101.6 cm