William Skinner and Sons "Vrille" silk fabric length; 1932.
date: label: date made
content: 1932
notes: label: Description
content: William Skinner and Sons "Vrille" silk satin-face, twill back, black fabric length; 1932. Soft, crepe-like, corkscrew weave, all silk fabric, having a slightly irregular, warp face satin surface and twill back, produced with doubled yarns of different sizes. Filling (spun silk) is coarser than the warp (filature silk). Used for women's shoes. Yarn-dyed black. Selvedge says "Skinner's" woven in black.
label: Description
content: William Skinner emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1843, finding work as silk dyer. He eventually opened his own silk manufacturing company, the Unquomonk Silk Co., making silk threads and yarns for weaving and sewing. In 1874, the mill was destroyed when the Mill River Dam gave way. Skinner moved his company a few miles away, to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and rebuilt the mill, expanding production to include woven fabrics (Skinner satins were nationally famous) and silk braids. He ran the company until his death in 1902, and the firm stayed in the family, and remained in operation in Holyoke, until 1961, when his heirs sold it to Indian head Mills, which immediately closed the Holyoke operation.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Holyoke
label: Associated Place
content: United States: New Jersey, Allentown
topic: label: web object
content: American Textile Industry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: American Silks
label: See more items in
content: American Textile Industry
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of William Skinner and Sons
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T06938
label: accession number
content: 117978
label: catalog number
content: T06938.000
label: catalog number
content: T6938
label: catalog number
content: T (/) 6938
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Fabric
label: Object Name
content: Fabric Length
label: Object Name
content: fabric length
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: corkscrew weave (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: satin face; twill back (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: synthetic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 36 in x 38 in; 91.44 cm x 96.52 cm