Percale, cotton towel. White, gold, bronze, green, rose, and blue crewel embroidery. Two hanging tabs at top corners (show towel). White machine-made fringe sewn across width: 1 at bottom, one 9 inches from bottom; the third 1 1/2 inches from top.Decorated with 9 3"x3" figures: 2 8-pointed stars; central figure with mirror-image to 2 birds; 3 flowers in pots. Hand embroidered with crewel (wool) threads (yellow, red, blue & green) in chain stitch. Hand hemmed on long edges. Fringes are hand applied. Star
8 linen hand towels. White damask with geometric square design panel along both ends, vine and leaf design. Crocheted edges with 'HLJ' elaborately embroidered with grey thread with floral motifs.
Were Harriet Lane Johnston's. Inherited by _____________ who was Harriet's cousin, then to _______________ sister Mrs. E.R. Taylor. Then they went to her son, Edmund R. Taylor Jr., who with his wife was the donor to Wheatland.
Hand towel, plain-weave linen, elaborately decorated with blue and red cotton cross stitch as well as drawn thread panels. Hanging tabs are plain-weave linen tape, 3/8" wide and very long.
Panel #1 has "MARIA" at the top flanked by large floral trees growing out of hearts. Second line reads: "MACDALLNA DAMY" and 3rd line is: "MY HAND AND NWEDLE." Below are 5 large tree motifs grounded on a horizontal embroidered line, followed by 8 small grounded trees.
Panel #2 is a drawn thread panel w/ cotton darn-stitched designs. Drawn threads stop short of sides -- unusual.
Panel # 3 has five blue and red motifs: star at center flanked by crowned peacocks, in turn flanked by geometric motifs.
Panel # 4 is a tripartite design: center has "HF" within an ornately embroidered red and blue heart, flanked by drawn thread panels w/ cotton darn-stitched trees surmounted by birds. (Initials stand for future husband Henry Fenstermacher, married the following year,1837.)
Panel #5 is very similar to panel #3.
Panel #6 is another drawn thread panel stopping short of sides, decorated w/ cotton darn-stitched geometric designs.
Panel #7 has upper case alphabet ending with the date 1836.
Panel #8 has three lines: "CHRISTOPHER/ DAMY CATHARINE/ DAMY A D 1836." (parents)
Plain self fringe at bottom has an applied short panel of linen with an elaborate knotted self fringe.
Made by Maria/Mary Magdalena Demmy (1811-1884).
Seller pinned on a note stating the mate to this towel (made by sister Elizabeth) was sold in the Rich and Joan Smith sale for $2400, inventory # CB29. Both towels illustrated in This is the Way I Pass My Time, p. 31.
Note: Older sister Maria/Mary Demmy's taufschein is P.06.15.1.
Framed hand towel. One large embroidered panel with pelicans. Two-inch panel of loose weave linen added to bottom,decorated with wide band of red cotton with sawtooth edges . Main panel is bleached plain weave linen. Embroidered decoration is done in red cotton, now faded to dark pink.
Panel is 13" high x 16.5" wide, with a symmetrical design except for the initials and date. Embroidered stylized heart at top center with two interior stars and smaller interior heart. At upper corners of panel are large flowers above a decorated branch, under which are large, facing pelicans, each feeding 2 young birds with blood from their pierced breast. At bottom is a small heart motif flanked by facing birds. To the right of this motif is "1808" and to the left is "A C" and "W I".
Conserved Nov. 1997 by Dorothy McCoach of Bethlehem, PA.
Yellowish stains around edges. Discoloration above initials. Pencil marks in upper right corner. Darned diamond pattern in bottom panel has a few minor "pulls". Bottom extension detaching at two points.
Mounted in frame by Lancaster Galleries.
Object ID
G.97.39.2
Credit
Gift of Hampton Randolph, Sr., Heritage Center Collection
White homespun (?) linen hand towel. Macremaed fringe. Three drawnwork bands from 3.5in to 9.5in from bottom of towel. Red thread wraps wefts in narrow drawnwork. on other bands straight stitch chicken tracks in red separate groups of threads. Decorated with red cotton thread feather stitching. Narrow hems on length. Tangled fringe, feather stitches fraying.
02/22: White (ecru) cotton length: top is selvedge; 2 sides finished with hand-stitched rolled 1/8" hem. Bottom finished with 5-inch knotted fringe. 3 bands of drawn work cross the towel. Red threads wrap bundles on narrow band. On 2 wider bands, red weave over and under bundles of 20 threads. Straight stitch chicken tracks separate bundles on both sides.
White homespun (?) linen hand towel. Macremaed fringe. Three drawnwork bands from 3.5in to 9.5in from bottom of towel. Red thread wraps wefts in narrow drawnwork. on other bands straight stitch chicken tracks in red separate groups of threads. Decorated with red cotton thread feather stitching. Narrow hems on length. Tangled fringe, feather stitches fraying.
Hand towel, white with Herringbone weave. Images in blue, red, and yellow printed on towel. These images include, in center, a man in suit carrying drinks and with dice falling from his pockets. The face of a young woman apears in a window. The scene is surrounded by a border of martini glasses and dice. The figures are presumably African American people with their blue (dark) skin and caricatured features.
White woven lengthwise piece (both side edges are selvedges). Beautifully embroidered (6" long x 7" wide) white work monogram sewn in white cotton thread with satin, stem, buttonhole stitches and French knots. 2 inches below, trimmed with overcast. self-fringe. 1-inch wide drawnwork (bundles of 6 threads wrapped in center). 1/2" from edge is a 1/2-inch wide drawnwork stripe with single thread woven alternately by 2 central threads.
Center length (exposed) and another lengthwise fold are brown. Significant hole to one side of monogram. 2 other holes. Self-fringe edge is worn with fabric fraying in 2 places.
White damask handtowel. Lengthwise rows of bud-like flowers, light blue woven areas. Chain down sides, floral vine along both edges. Wider band of rosebud vines below. Both ends have multi-knotted fringe. At center bottom of one end, 'A' embroidered in w
