tassel
date: label: date made
content: estimated 20th century
label: used date
content: 20th century
name: label: user
content: Tuckerman, Walter R.
label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: Tieback tassel and cord only. Large tassel on a cord, both tassel and cord match the tiebacks. The twisted cord has a solid strand of gold threads wrapped with twisted blue and black, and blue and yellow strands. The tassel consists of three wooden beads that provide the tassel with structure. The first two bead are round in graduated sizes, and the third bead is a dome that supports the hanging tassel strings. The beads are wrapped vertically with gold thread, black and yellow twist, and blue gimp trim in a simple wave pattern. The black and yellow twist sits on either side of the gimp, and the gold thread is wrapped in between the stripes of trim. In between the first and second bead is a beveled spacer wrapped in blue silk thread with yellow thread wrapped horizontally around the center. In between the second and third bead is a ring-shaped spacer wrapped in black thread above a similar beveled spacer wrapped in blue and yellow thread. The blue thread is coming off this spacer. Below the largest bead is a row of alternating blue, black, and gold tied tassels form the outer edge of the tassel fringe. Inside the tied tassels the rest of the tassel strings are gold twisted cord. The multicolored tassel strings have gotten tangled and do not lay flat. The thread wrapped around the forms is breaking off in many places, almost all the gold thread is gone. The light blue thread on the beveled spacer has significant damage, and the light blue gimp trim is unraveling. The wooden beads are quite brittle and are loose.
label: Description
content: This tassel (part of a set 234919.0055a-k) was donated by the daughters of Walter Tuckerman, a prominent man in the banking, real estate, and naturalist world of Maryland in the 20th century. In his early adulthood, he was part of the Alaskan Border Survey Commission in 1909. His letters home are full of optimism and wonder at the wilderness of Alaska, he even received the honor of a mountain named after him, Mt. Tuck. After he returned from Alaska, he founded The Bank of Bethesda in Bethesda, Maryland. Tuckerman also led the development of the nearby neighborhood of Edgemoor in Bethesda, Maryland. His daughters donated the drapes with a note stating that they came “from our parent’s house” (page 178 of scanned accession file). It is likely that the house in question was the family home called Tuxeden in Bethesda.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Maryland, Bethesda, Edgemoor
label: associated place
content: United States: Alaska
topic: label: associated subject
content: Exploration and Discovery
label: associated subject
content: Banks
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. E. Tuckerman Biays, Mrs. Draper L. Kauffman, Mrs. Robert G. Metters, Mrs. Willard Triest, and Mrs. Robert H. Williams
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.234919.0055j
label: accession number
content: 234919
label: catalog number
content: 234919.0055j
objectType: label: Object Name
content: tassel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: blue, black, gold, yellow (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: cord, thread, gimp, wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 22 3/4 in x 4 in x 2 1/2 in; 57.785 cm x 10.16 cm x 6.35 cm