Object Details
- Description
- William Skinner and Sons pink silk satin fabric length; 1914. Length of pink silk satin, with a red woven selvage. The selvage has a woven-in inscription, reading Skinner's 404. William Skinner & Sons was an important American manufacturer of silk satins. The number 404 probably referred to a particular weight or quality classification. This particular sample is a fine soft satin but not as soft as charmeuse. Fabric length is cut and has frayed edges. Some discoloration and dirt throughout.
- William Skinner emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1843, finding work as silk dyer. He eventually opened his own silk manufacturing company, the Unquomonk Silk Co., making silk threads and yarns for weaving and sewing. In 1874, the mill was destroyed when the Mill River Dam gave way. Skinner moved his company a few miles away, to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and rebuilt the mill, expanding production to include woven fabrics (Skinner satins were nationally famous) and silk braids. He ran the company until his death in 1902, and the firm stayed in the family, and remained in operation in Holyoke, until 1961, when his heirs sold it to Indian head Mills, which immediately closed the Holyoke operation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- manufacturer
- William Skinner and Sons
- date made
- c.1914
- 1914
- c. 1914
- Credit Line
- Gift of William Skinner and Sons
- Physical Description
- silk (overall material)
- satin weave; yarn-dyed (overall production method/technique)
- pink (overall color)
- Measurements
- overall: 36 1/2 in x 36 in; 92.71 cm x 91.44 cm
- Object Name
- Fabric
- fabric length
- fabric sample
- Fabric Length
- Fabric length
