1893 Adele Paturel's Crazy-patched Pillow Sham
date: label: date made
content: 1880 - 1890
name: label: maker
content: Soher, Adele Paturel
notes: label: Description
content: Adele Paturel created this fascinating example of crazy patchwork before her marriage to Emile Soher in 1895. The unlined pillow sham has a dark red plush border with an embroidered fan in one corner. Delightful embroidered motifs (many three-dimensional) include a hand with a bead ring; a hot air balloon and basket; an embroidered mailbox (“USM”) surrounded by birds with letters in their beaks; a harp with strings; a bird and nest with eggs; “Flor Cuba Havana” on a box of cigars; a spider on a web inscribed with “climbing up”; a pocket watch and many other designs. Several patches have animal motifs such as a cat inscribed with “who says mice,” a deer, a retriever dog and ducks, a squirrel, a bear (California State Flag motif), and an eagle. Elaborate stitches anchor the various patches.
label: Description
content: Adele Paturel crafted this pillow sham dated “1893” to accompany a larger crazy-patch parlor throw also in the Collection (TE.T16996). Her two daughters donated the parlor throw in 1973, and twenty years later this smaller (33” x 33”) companion piece that had been in a frame.
label: Description
content: Adele Paturel was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1865. She was brought to San Francisco, California as an infant and lived there until her death in 1954. She married Emile Soher (1863-1910) in 1895. The whimsical motifs and multiple examples of fancy stitching are very typical of the crazy-patch fashion of the late 19th century.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, San Francisco
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
label: Subject
content: Women's History
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Lorraine J. and Norma A. Soher
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1993.0517.01
label: accession number
content: 1993.0517
label: catalog number
content: 1993.0517.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Pillow Sham, Quilted
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, silk, satin, velvet, plush, ribbon (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, silk, cotton, chenille, metallic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 33 In x 33 in; 85 cm x 85 cm