Apron

Description

This ceremonial cotton apron, or possibly banner, is printed with the emblem of the Friendly Association of Cotton Spinners, an early 19th-century cotton workers’ union based in Glasgow, Scotland. The emblem depicts two textile workers – a man and a young girl – in front of a large spinning mule. Above them is the Glasgow coat of arms flanked by a cotton plant and merchant vessel. Scrolling ribbons to their left and right read “Success to the Cotton Tree” and “Success to Commerce,” and a third below them "Success to the Friendly Association of Cotton Spinners." This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.