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.

This same fabric was used in an iconic dress by the great French couturier Madeleine Vionnet. The dress, from 1927, is cited in Betty Kirke's tome on Vionnet's career, Madeleine Vionnet, as an example of Vionnet's interest in using Egyptian motifs as inspiration. Vionnet was interested in the geometry of motifs such as this and the ease with which they could be manipulated into mathematically exact patterns. The pattern of this sample, embroidered with subtly variant shades of bright gold and bronze cord, is precisely applied for an overall sophisticated effect.