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1962

  • Work on this object began.

2011

2015

2024

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Textile, Bangkok

This is a Textile. It was produced by Knoll Textiles. It is dated introduced 1962 and we acquired it in 2011. Its medium is nylon, backing and its technique is plain weave with doubled warps. It is a part of the Textiles department.

Henning Watterston was one of the most successful weaver/designers of the postwar period. He studied painting and textile design at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco. In 1941 he and his wife, Carolyn Rees, joined Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship, where they designed and wove curtains for Wright’s Rose Pauson House in Phoenix, Arizona. Through the 1940s, Watterston became well-known for his textural casements designed for Menlo Textiles. In 1949, he moved his studio to New York. Through the 1950s, he designed high-end and custom fabrics for decorators, and worked with Craftex Mills in Philadelphia. He was working with Craftex when he developed Bangkok for Knoll.
Watterston believed in the importance of understanding and showcasing the “texture identity of thread.” With a warp of Talsan textured nylon from DuPont and a weft of slub-spun nylon, Bangkok gave the appearance of silk shantung. The luxury effect was amplified in the coloring, which borrowed the jewel tones and iridescent effects of Thai silks.

It is credited Gift of Richard and Trudy Schultz.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 111.8 x 72.4 cm (44 x 28 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Textile, Bangkok; Produced by Knoll Textiles (United States); USA; nylon, backing; H x W: 111.8 x 72.4 cm (44 x 28 1/2 in.); Gift of Richard and Trudy Schultz; 2011-25-13

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18789737/ |title=Textile, Bangkok |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>