Textile fragment

Description

The Lonsdale Company, located in Providence, Rhode Island, manufactured this cotton sheeting around the late 19th or early 20th century. This section of cloth includes manufacturer information stamped in blue ink and three original labels still attached. Textile manufacturers would put information like this on bolt ends to identify their products, as well as proclaim their quality, to both retailers and consumers. The eye-catching designs printed on these labels – one featuring intricate filigree motifs, the other a watercolor painting of a battleship – were perhaps intended to help this plain sheeting stand out among others on crowded store shelves. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.