Textile, Japanese Iris, ca. 1910

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It has been able to spend time at the museum on loan from Decker Library.

This dramatic printed silk has Japanese iris stems and swooping bluebirds against a dark purple ground. Its pattern resembles design #49,705 (left), which Crownfield patented with Cheney Brothers in 1916. In that same year, the company released their new Cinderella Silk, which featured “birds with gorgeous plumage, flowers from an old-fashioned garden, interpreted at their very best, wonderful Frenchy effects in soft pastel shades.”