Textile fragment

Description

This bolt of pink linen was manufactured in Ireland, probably for export to the United States. The elaborate embossed label at the center of the bolt end depicts a woman operating a spinning wheel to spin flax into linen thread. Until the mid-19th century, linens found in American homes were most often handwoven from homespun thread. By the turn of the 20th century, with the steady development of industrial textile manufacturing, household linens were more likely to be made from commercially produced fabric, including imported linen like this. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.