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Object Timeline

1955	We acquired this object.
2003	We photographed this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2017	We photographed this object.
2024	You found it!

Fragment (France)

This is a Fragment. It is dated mid-18th century and we acquired it in 1955. Its medium is cotton and its technique is block printed on plain weave. It is a part of the Textiles department.

Roughly square portion cut from larger fabric. The dark green background is densely populated by brightly colored farm animals, human figures and flowers illustrated in a happy, playful, flat manner reminscent of folkart. The general impression is like an appliqued quilt where the elements have been cut from different print fabrics and sewn onto the background. The motifs are contained in a diamond shape, which repeats in all directions. The central figures are a blond 'farmer' in light blue overalls, red shirt and pink boots carrying a lamb and the 'farmers wife' in a long pink dress with a green top, hair covered in pink, grey boots, carrying a yellow flowering plant and a green bucket. Floating around them clockwise in a circular motion, a green cow with white face and pink horns, a white goose, a red rooster with green wings and whte tail feathers,a pink goat with yellow ears and green hooves, a green horse with a pink mane, a yellow cat, a pale blue pig with grey ears and three piglets (2 grey, 1 blue). A second ring of creatures float around the first including: a green partridge, a pink rooster, a green hen with red wings, a female figure in a short red dress, pink shoes and what looks like a chef's hat carrying a long necked blue bird, a white duck, a yellow dog, a green rabit, a pink bird with long tail feathers, and two dogs (1 pink, 1 pale grey) that look like a howling coyote. Interwoven between these elements are a variety of fantasy flowers and stylized leaf shapes. Despite the busyness of the design and humourous, unexpected color choices, the design is unified by one feature common to all the elements - each contains some kind of tiny overall pattern like polka dots, flowers, or stars, so that all seem related. The name of the pattern 'Calico Cow' gives an idea of the quilt material referred to earlier.

Textile, Calico Cow, 1952
cotton.
American Textile History Museum Collection, gift of Michele Palmer.
2017-24-7

Its dimensions are

H x W: 31.8 × 25.4 cm (12 1/2 in. × 10 in.)

Cite this object as

Fragment (France); cotton; H x W: 31.8 × 25.4 cm (12 1/2 in. × 10 in.); 1955-175-1

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CjVe/
Accession Number 1955-175-1
Object ID 18404167