The Revival Home

The representation of history in the home is inherently political. The Revival Home brings together two distinct time periods: 1876 and 1976, known as the Centennial and Bicentennial respectively. Both were historical moments when textile designers and makers looked to the past for inspiration and reinterpreted this history through the prism of strikingly different political contexts. This myth-making worked to both diminish the often layered and difficult histories of African Americans and Native Americans, and celebrate specific European-American histories of whiteness and settler colonialism. Both eras of political commemoration of the nation witnessed high rates of immigration to the United States, along with rising awareness of ethnic identities and income inequality. The image of a unified nation presented through revival design masked these social and economic fissures, often giving primacy to the heritage of particular sectors of the population. The Revival Home explores the cultural work of reviving—or crafting—histories that serve current political needs, whether through mottos, iconography, or making practices. The material qualities of these revivals are characterized by the reproduction of earlier objects considered documents of the past, an importance placed on genealogy, and the uncanny effect of familiar designs being recast to suit modern tastes.

The inscription on this embroidered bookmark reads, “Oaken chair of Gov. Carver’s brought over in the May Flower, 1620.” John Carver was the first Governor of Plymouth County, whose name became synonymous with this style of “pilgrim” chair. New studies have shown that the chair, at Pilgrim Hall Museum, was made of American wood, debunking the long-held belief of its origin. Other needlepoints of the chair exist with the same inscription, no doubt inspired by the many prints and photographs of this relic. Objects with real and imagined associations to the Mayflower were prized and many were displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial. Owning and making representations of these items was a way for individuals to connect to a kind of material Mayflower genealogy. The printed sampler handkerchief represents a similar investment, as it reproduces a needlework form widely associated with early American girlhood and invites participation from a new generation of girls.

These textiles date from the 1920s through the 1950s, decades of cultural, economic, and social transformation, including the crisis points of the Great Depression and World War II. This upheaval led some textile manufacturers, and consumers, to embrace nostalgic visions of American history; the choices of what to include and exclude from these narratives of the past were informed by contemporary politics. Scenes of European colonization, Revolutionary-era heroics, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello were incorporated into the familiar textile forms of toiles and repeating prints. Some even reprised scenes familiar from The Federal Home, such as the depiction of William Penn’s treaty with the Lenni Lenape tribe in Morton Sundour Co.’s Early American Toile. The image of soldiers superimposed over text is wording from the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason in 1776, and widely considered an inspiration for the Declaration of Independence. Some artists better known for their modernist approaches to American design turned to familiar emblems in times of crisis, such as Marguerita Mergentime’s New England Eagle design, printed during World War II.

While some revival furnishing fabrics incorporated historical scenes or sites into new patterns, other designs took inspiration directly from surviving examples of historical textiles, while using modern dyes and printing techniques. These examples of Waverly Fabrics from the late 1960s and early 1970s reference specific historic sites, such as Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and the Schuyler Mansion in New York State. While the exact design process for the modern textiles is unclear, many of these fabrics were marketed under the brand name “Heirloom Documents” or otherwise included the word “document” in their pattern name, implying that these textiles served as truthful records of the past. While these vibrant prints of flowers, fruits, and exotic birds may not on their surfaces appear to be overtly political, the reproduction fabrics evoke a particular narrative of American history, in which Americans of European descent achieved economic, political, and cultural dominance. This is exemplified by the Gunston Hall pattern, referencing the home of founding father George Mason where he owned hundreds of enslaved persons. Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which is printed on the Americana furnishing fabric in “Mid-Century Revivals” above.