Historical Textile c. 1940

Curator: Welcome. We are looking at a printed textile from around 1940, simply titled "Historical Textile." Editor: It's striking. The overall design, the arrangement of motifs… It has this almost dizzying, propagandistic quality to it. Curator: Precisely. Notice the central image, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln encircled by stars. And radiating outward from it are vignettes: American flags, bald eagles…and cityscapes, all rendered in what appears to be an illustrative, drawing style, quite possibly reproduced via linocut print methods. Editor: I am interested in the red, white and blue, an insistent rhythmic structure framing the content. This rigid and regular structure highlights all the symbolic inclusions with an implied endorsement. The choice to put red lining the edge is intriguing. Curator: Yes, color definitely operates symbolically here, reinforcing ideas of American identity, patriotism, perhaps even a sense of collective memory or nostalgia in this post-war moment, with a not so subtle reference to loss given its somber commemorative style. Lincoln and the national symbols weave a dense web of meaning about power and memory. The printing is all laid over what looks like bleached cloth. The way that everything fades into the linen background suggests an intimate artefact and precious memento. Editor: Though somewhat crudely printed, which I read in tandem with its content as reinforcing the image's emotional value. Like this has personal value, maybe passed down through generations to communicate collective cultural belonging and heritage. The somewhat crude material and technique add to its sense of humble value as folk art rather than museum worthy piece of history. Curator: Absolutely. This textile acts as a cultural artifact, telling us as much about the period of its creation as the historical figures and moments it depicts, revealing complex layers of symbolic encoding related to history, identity, and national mythmaking. Editor: The regular geometry provides us with the frame from which the value-laden details are communicated. Curator: The emotional intensity that is communicated suggests something much larger beyond the printed material. Editor: Indeed, a piece carrying a freight of symbolic and material history.