Textile fragment, woven (Towel fragment)

Description

This towel fragment has a white cotton warp and a natural-colored linen weft. It was probably wider at one time, as one of the selvedge edges has been cut. It was perhaps heavy toweling, or had some other use. This towel fragment comes from Helen D. Young’s collection of handwoven textiles made in the northeastern United States before 1900. Young (1894-1983) was a prominent weaver, teacher, author, and collector of coverlets. Her collection, now at Winterthur (2017.0019.051.001 - .038), contains a diverse variety of weave structures, reflecting Young’s interest in structure and regional variation, as well as her understanding of textiles as an art form. In her notes, Young described this as “an early American piece of huck weaving in a threading combining two different sizes of units.” This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017. The Winterthur Library also received a significant amount of material from ATHM, including the Laura M. Allen weaving draft collection, which was previously acquired by Marguerite Porter Davison and then Helen D. Young.