I'm concerned when I see poor scholarship displayed as textile history by museums. The decades-long completely inaccurate "history" of coded quilt patterns as part of the history of slavery may be a worst-case scenario.
I feel it's important to call out other trends in misguided history such as the current misinformation that weavers in 17th-century Bermuda were producing complex indigo prints. I've mentioned that the Albany Institute in New York is showing an indigo print of the type popular with New Yorkers with the caption that it was printed by weavers on the archipelago of Bermuda in the mid-17th century. See my post of indignation here:
Identical misinformation is published in the catalog of an exhibit “Blue Gold” now on view at the Mingei Museum in San Diego. (Through March 16, 2025.) The catalog is available online.
https://publications.mingei.org/blue-gold/
Inside we have the same dubious reference to Bermudans printing complex resist-dyed indigo cottons in the early-17th century. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory composed of islands in the Atlantic hundreds of miles east of Charleston and north of the "West Indies"
Inside we have the same dubious reference to Bermudans printing complex resist-dyed indigo cottons in the early-17th century. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory composed of islands in the Atlantic hundreds of miles east of Charleston and north of the "West Indies"
The Evidence:
As early as 1624 it was noted that enslaved people wove homegrown Sea Island cotton into cloth dyed with indigo in Bermuda. A survey from 1626 mentioned "weavers"‘ on 46 acres on Longbird Island, land that was the “tenure and occupation of John Stirrop and Ralph Wright weavers.” Stirrop and Wright are fairly well documented as weavers, "weavers of dimity,” a ribbed cotton that might be plain or printed.
As early as 1624 it was noted that enslaved people wove homegrown Sea Island cotton into cloth dyed with indigo in Bermuda. A survey from 1626 mentioned "weavers"‘ on 46 acres on Longbird Island, land that was the “tenure and occupation of John Stirrop and Ralph Wright weavers.” Stirrop and Wright are fairly well documented as weavers, "weavers of dimity,” a ribbed cotton that might be plain or printed.
White dimity
Yet nowhere do we see any evidence that Stirrop and Wright were printing on their cotton cloth. When surveyors and biographers classified a skilled mechanic as a weaver---they did NOT mean a printer. The past three posts, I hope, have illustrated that basic principle of specialization clearly.
Shelburne Museum
Without further evidence we will conclude that this style
of sophisticated indigo resist cotton was an Indian production
shipped around the world.
Long Bird Island as it was no longer exists. It was bulldozed and transformed into a U.S. Army Base during World War II, making the discovery of any archeological evidence of the weaving industry about impossible to find.
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I hate to be a pain...
But really....
Don't museums have the obligation to present current scholarship on textile production?
It is naive to speculate that people identified as weavers also were skilled at printing cotton.
More:
I do go on....
Yes, please do go "on and on" about this and other misinformed practices. Perhaps, in time, we can stop all the myths. Have a super day!
ReplyDeleteYou go on because someone has to.
ReplyDeleteIMHO, yes museums should update their information. I have to wonder if it's ego or lack of staff/funding to do the updates. Weaving fabric and printing are worlds apart in knowledge. Bummer about the archaeology situation on Bird Island.
ReplyDeleteOTOH, I can see their point of not rushing to change things, wanting more supporting research. Sometimes the new information turns out to be wrong also.
You are right—But: In this case, the Bermuda theory IS new information. They’re jumping on a bandwagon trying to do the good thing of presenting new research—but in this case they haven’t scrutinized it enough to see the gaps in the logic/argument presented for saying the Bermuda weavers were doing Indian style indigo block printing.
DeleteSomehow I thought the Bermuda weaving & printing being the done by the same people was old info, recently brought to your attention. Coffee certainly did not kick in soon enough when I read the last several posts on the subject! Thank you for setting me straight.
DeleteThis has been an informative series . Let the truth be known!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, thank you for addressing the issue of 'misinformation.' Poor research is often repeated and, unfortunately, accepted as 'truth.' This needs to stop. The same thing is happening with the history of Baltimore Album quilts. Who would have thought the Mary Evans myth would resurface after it had been debunked by respected scholars years ago? Keep up the great work! We all appreciate it.
ReplyDelete