1890–1900 Bates Family Silk Parlor Throw
National Museum of American History
1300 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC
2nd Floor, West, Nicholas J. and Eugenia Taubman Gallery Floor Plan
On view are rarely seen late 19th-century silk quilts from the museum’s collection. These textiles tell a little known story about American industry, art, fads, and marketing. The quilts were made to be seen rather than slept under and were sometimes called “parlor throws.”
