Textile

This object is from a collection of sample embroideries, which was originally owned by Morris de Camp Crawford, editor of Women's Wear Daily, who collected objects which told the story of fashion and fabric history. Included in this collection was a group of textiles which illustrated what American and French designers and manufacturers were using. According to Crawford's book The Ways of Fashion, the work of Polish artist Sarah Lipska (1882-1973) was represented in this collection. Lipska is an enigmatic figure, who is known to have worked with Leon Bakst as a set and costume designer for the Ballets Russes, and later in the 1920s as a fashion designer in Paris at 4 rue Belloni, and finally as a sculptor. Extant examples of her work are rare. Although only a few pieces in the Brooklyn Museum collection bear a label or a signature, others bear hallmarks of her work, such as a distinctive form of whip stitching on appliqué work, unusual abstract motifs, and Cubist-inspired patterns.

During the 1920s, so-called Egyptian shawls were in high demand and were made in Egypt for the Western market. They were often made of a sheer light-weight fabric and were embroidered with hammered metal foil in geometric designs. This embroidered example from Crawford's collection is very similar to the Egyptian shawls in both motif and technique. This embroidery is not couchwork, which is more common with metallic threads, thus making the embroidery even more unique. The dense intricate work would have been very costly and labor-intensive and would have been suited for an ephemeral dress decoration.