Object Timeline

1953

  • Work on this object began.

1955

  • Work on this object ended.

2016

  • We acquired this object.

2017

2024

  • You found it!

Textile, Showboat Jazz

This is a Textile. It was possibly by Associated American Artists. It is dated 1953-1955 and we acquired it in 2016. Its medium is cotton and its technique is printed. It is a part of the Textiles department.

Showboat Jazz is an unsigned textile featuring scenes of riverboats, musical instruments, horse-drawn carriages, and men and women in turn-of-the-century dress, each depiction in its own box of black, green, or mustard. This design’s distinctive colorblocked ground and stylized line drawings strongly resemble some of the Signature Fabrics made in collaboration with Associated American Artists, such as Laura Jean Allen’s Hook ‘n’ Ladder (5826.50.2016).
However, the Signature Fabrics inspired a number of competitors, including the Masterpiece Prints from J. C. Penney, whose artist-designers were not identified in the fabric selvedge, and Bates Fabrics, whose print advertisements featured models in gallery settings. (1)
(1) Gail Windisch, Sylvan Cole Jr., and Karen J. Herbaugh, Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists, 1934-2000 (Manhattan: Marianna Kistler Beach Museum, Kansas State University, 2016): 214-215.

This object was donated by American Textile History Museum. It is credited American Textile History Museum Collection.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 30.5 × 88.9 cm (12 × 35 in.)

Cite this object as

Textile, Showboat Jazz; Possibly by Associated American Artists (United States); cotton; H x W: 30.5 × 88.9 cm (12 × 35 in.); American Textile History Museum Collection; 2016-35-67

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1108711673/ |title=Textile, Showboat Jazz |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=20 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>