The embroidered design on this linen towel reserves it for kitchen décor rather than for drying dishes. Stitched in cotton thread on a white towel is a woman biking to the “Super Market” to shop for groceries. The housekeeping task is scheduled for “Wednesday” on this towel, part of a days-of-the-week set made from a needlecraft kit, a popular creative endeavor in the 1940s, when smaller, single-f
In autumnal yellows and reds, William N. Buckner, Jr. (1888-1984) created this expressionist-style portrait of oak leaves on a branch in 1909, a year before he began teaching woodworking at Lincoln Elementary School in Washington, DC. Buckner had developed a passion for art and honed his woodworking expertise at the city’s renowned M Street High School, a public school for African Americans under
These aviator goggles were once part of artist Leslie Payne’s “flights of imagination.” The self-taught artist wore goggles and handcrafted flight suits while piloting airplanes that he made across fields and along local roads. Originally, the two lenses linked across the nose, and a strap held them on the wearer’s head. The goggles were genuine, made by Willson Products of Reading, Pennsylvania,
This porcelain pin box not only holds pins for sewing, but also the story of middle-class African Americans who commuted across the Anacostia River to jobs in downtown Washington, DC in the early 1900s. The First Lady of the United States, Edith Wilson, gave the pin box to her dressmaker, Lillian “Lillie” Green, who traveled to the White House from her home on Elvans Road in the city’s southeaster
Dr. Lorenzo Dow Turner, a linguist, bought this hand-cranked phonograph and a set of phonograph records and illustrated textbooks to learn the Portuguese language before traveling to Brazil in 1940-41. Ironically, the course taught Portuguese from Portugal, and Dr. Turner found upon arrival in Rio de Janeiro that he had to hire a local teacher to understand Brazilian Portuguese.
This wall hanging is made of three pieces of woven cloth. The central section is painted with a white lizard surrounded by four symbols, with three interspersed brass ornaments and a carved wood pendant. The lizard’s tail, neck, and body are beaded. The top and bottom sections of the hanging are made of a rust-colored cloth printed with a row of black chevrons and notched lines. Artist Ira Blount
The piecing on this quilt is a variation of a log-cabin pattern. Most of the piecing comprises two-inch squares sewn together to form long strips of a single pattern or color theme. Three edges of the quilt are made of long strips of cloth. The fabrics include solid colors (green, maroon, off-white, and turquoise) and over a dozen small floral calico-type prints. All four edges are hand-quilted in
Uniformity, symmetry, and precision are the defining characteristics of this beaded strap. In the center of the piece, a small green diamond is surrounded by yellow, orange, white, and black borders. Other shapes, including chevrons and triangles, draw attention to the geometry underpinning this beadwork. A delicate thread fringe on each short end completes the decorative craft.
This natural-colored, melon-shaped basket is woven in a plain weave. While most of the basket’s body comprises wood splints, six thin, round reeds near the handle (three on either side) add variety and texture to the piece. The handle is accented with black, red, purple, white, and green glass beads. The contrast between the natural splints, reeds, and glass beads draws attention to artist Ira Blo
This melon-shaped basket is woven with light and dark brown wood splints and reeds in a plain weave. The darker brown reeds create two vertical stripes. The handle is covered with a plain weave with a reed weft and attached to the basket with a God’s Eye design.
Blount made this basket in 1980, the year he began crafting baskets. He recalls how his first attempt “was a total disaster. The basket wouldn’t sit up…But, I kept trying and trying and finally I made a few that were presentable.” This perseverance is a hallmark of Blount’s process.