Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1949

  • Work on this object began.

1951

  • Work on this object ended.

2021

2024

  • You found it!

Textile, Yellow Driftwood

This is a Textile. It was designed by Marion Dorn Kauffer and manufactured by Jud Williams, Inc..

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design as part of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

It is dated 1949–51. Its medium is screen-printed cotton and mohair. It is a part of the department.


One American journalist reported that nature was Dorn’s notebook. These textiles show the designer forgoing her earlier stylized florals for more realistic representations of grasses and driftwood. Leaves of Grass, shown here printed on silk, was also available on a wipe-clean plastic-coated cotton for easy maintenance.

It is credited Lent by Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Edgar J. Lownes Fund and Museum Acquisition Fund 2004.2.1.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 168.9 × 123.2 cm (5 ft. 6 1/2 in. × 48 1/2 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805136/ |title=Textile, Yellow Driftwood |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=26 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>