Bell-pattern textile
Designer Ida F. Clark
Associated Artists American
Probably manufactured by Cheney Brothers American
Not on view
Ida F. Clark’s (1858-?) work was clearly distinguishable from Candace Wheeler’s(1827-1923) by motif and by approach. Clark chose more wide-ranging subjects than Wheeler—such as marine imagery, or the locomotive bells depicted here. Her designs were also smaller-scaled and more tightly composed than Wheeler’s. This is a fragment of a fabric that Clark created, on behalf of Associated Artists, to be used for seat upholstery in the railroad cars of the Pullman Palace Car Company. The piece may have come from an armrest in one such car. An engraving of the pattern published in 1884 shows that the fabric originally had a border design, a frieze of locomotive wheels partially obscured by wafting steam.
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