c. 1788

Painted Textile from a Dress

This painted silk fragment decorated with Chinese women, deer, and flowers was said to have been brought from China on the ship Alliance by the Philadelphian Robert Morris in 1788. The ship's cargo consisted of $122,608 worth of teas and silks and $252.74 in sundries for Mrs. Morris. Included as well was a mandarin dress, which Morris presented to the Philadelphia Museum, an institution founded by artist Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) that held natural history specimens, ethnographic materials, and some portraits by Peale. Painted silks were used both for clothing and for furnishings, including wall coverings. A contrasting selvedge, here in yellow, was characteristic of Chinese trade silks.