Sample

Description

This sample of cotton fabric, manufactured in the first half of the 20th century, features a printed paper label and information stamped in blue ink. Textile manufacturers would put information like this on bolt ends to identify their products, as well as communicate their uses, to both retailers and consumers. The text stamped on this sample identifies the cloth as “Nainsook” – a variety of soft cotton fabric – and suggests its use: “For Infants Wear and Fine Underwear.” The label does not include the name of the manufacturer, but instead is printed with a watercolor painting of a child feeding swans by a lake. The child is depicted wearing a white gown, perhaps made from cotton cloth such as this. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.