Advanced Search 
Handkerchief
1950
Medium/Technique
handkerchief
Dimensions
Overall: 87.6 x 84.5 cm (34 1/2 x 33 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of the American Textile History Museum—Katherine M. Kreiser and Arthur D. Larson
Accession Number2017.1306
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsFashion and Textiles
ClassificationsCostumes
DescriptionSilk printed scarf commemorating 100 years of CA statehood. Red border with banners & poppies, the state flower. On the lower left corner are representations of Hollywood - an actress in a swimsuit, camaras, & a director in his chair; lower right corner shows oranges, upper right a mission, & upper left, grapes. Inside the border on upper right corner in a pendant is a goddess Eureka with a bear overlooking the sea with sailing ships. Beside the pendant to the left are redwood trees, to the right a miner finding gold, below it the Bay Bridge. On the lower left are depicted 2 oranges with leaves and blossoms. Above the oranges are a camara man, streetsigns for Hollywood & Vine, a "glamerous" woman with a sotlight shining on her holding a sign "Zado". The center of the scarf has the outline of the state with the names of cities & products indigenous to the state both written & pictured within. For over 40 years Elinor Chace Larson studied and loved textiles, particularly printed textiles. Her interest included the technical processes of manufacture, the mills, the workers, and in effect, all aspects of American society in which the textiles were used. She lived in North Scituate, MA and Providence, RI near the location of many New England mills. She visited nearly all the region's museums and historical societies studying sample books and mill records, as well as visiting the mill sites. Larson died in 1989. Good. Some creasing along horizontal & vertical fold lines. Staining along upper edge border. She was well known for her extensive collection and knowledge.
Provenance2017, gift of the American Textile History Museum to the MFA. (Accession date: June 21, 2017)