Surah silk from Tiflis, Russian Caucasus; ca. 1900
date: label: date made
content: ca. 1900
notes: label: Description
content: A length of Surah silk fabric from Tiflis, Russian Caucasus. Lustrous, natural color (off-white) length of twill weave silk fabric; 82" L x 20" W. "Surah" also "Sura" is a name for a lightweight, lustrous twill weave silk fabric. This example is likely to have been hand-woven from locally grown cocoons in the Caucasus in the late 19th century. Transferred from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture sericulture display, Bureau of Entomology, July 9, 1912.
label: Description
content: At various points in American history, from colonial times onward, people experimented with sericulture - meaning the raising of silkworms and reeling of silk filaments from silkworm cocoons. At first it was hoped that this silk could be shipped to Great Britain for use in its silk textile manufacturing industry. Experiments in the 1760s and after, into the early 20th century, hoped to raise enough silk to support an American silk textile industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, efforts in California and other (primarily) western states were supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a display in the department's headquarters building in Washington, DC. The display also highlighted the imports of raw silk from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East that most manufacturers used in their products. The contents of the display were transferred to the (then) U.S. National Museum in 1912, for exhibition in the Textile Hall, as educational background for the exhibition of silk textiles manufactured in the US.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Caucasus
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1912
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T01112.000
label: catalog number
content: T01112.000
label: accession number
content: 54306
label: catalog number
content: T1112
objectType: label: Object Name
content: silk sample
label: Object Name
content: Surah silk
label: Object Name
content: fabric length
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 82 in x 20 in; 208.28 cm x 50.8 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: folded: 1 in x 10 3/4 in x 11 in; 2.54 cm x 27.305 cm x 27.94 cm