"Ponce de Leon - Jamestown" dress silk, "Early American" series

Length of printed "Indestructible Chiffon Voile" (Mallinson trade name). A sheer plain weave, all silk fabric (mfr #1800). Printed with an allover pattern (mfr #2774), titled "Ponce de Leon--Jamestown," one of the Mallinson 1929 "Early American" Series. This design illustrates scenes related to the colonizing of Florida and Virginia: Ponce de Leon in Florida; Capt. John Smith & Pocahontas; Baptism of Virginia Dare; and landing of young women at Jamestown ,VA. Beige ground with print in shades of green, orange, red, brown, with white reserve.Selvage width; selvage inscription.

Mallinson's 1929 "Early American" series of printed dress silks was based on historical events and figures that were perceived at the time to consitute a shared American story. It was the last of the company's line of designs based on American themes in which each design was printed in at least seven colors, in several colorways, on three or four different ground cloths. The stock market crash and economic depression that followed made the investment in this kind of design unprofitable.

Currently not on view