Mallinson's "Javanesque" series; engineered blouse length
date: label: Date made
content: 1919
name: label: maker
content: H. R. Mallinson & Co. Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: A length of block-printed Mallinson trade name "Indestructible" Voile. A sheer, plain weave silk fabric similar to chiffon. Printed with a dress or blouse pattern length; the material is ornamented with a block printed design (imitating batik work) which forms the front, back, and sleeves for the blouse or, as it might have been called when it was made, the "waist". H. R. Mallinson & Co. was one of many textile manufacturers who sought to reproduce the effects of hand-crafted batik (wax-resist dyeing) through more mechanized means. In this case the design was hand-block printed. Batik was very popular and fashionable in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The idea of laying the design out on the cloth (sometimes called engineering) so it could be stitched into a blouse with very little cutting was unusual at the time. This blouse length is incomplete, it shows only the neck area, sleeves, and the front (or back, difficult to know for sure) of the blouse. The complete blouse would have been symmetrical across the center of the neckline.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: American Silks
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content: American Silk Industry
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content: Migel-Mallinson Silks
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of H.R. Mallinson & Co., Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T04144
label: accession number
content: 63914
label: catalog number
content: T04144.000
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Fabric Length
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: pale green (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: plain weave; block printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: faux batik (overall style)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 39 in; 91.44 cm x 99.06 cm