Images(3)

Textile Documents

Dateca. 1780

MediumCotton and silk (fiber identification by Textile Lab)

Dimensions#1: OW 1 1/4" x OH 1 3/4" #2: OW 3/4" x OH 1 3/4" #3: OW 1 1/8" x OH 2" #4: OW 1/2" x OH 1" #5 OW 1" x OH 3/4" #6: OW 1" x OH 1 1/4" #7: OW 4 1/4" x OH 9" #8: OW 1/2" x OH 1"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2016-108,1-8

DescriptionThis is a collection of textile documents and one bundle of thread from the Pollard, Lewis, and Washington Families. They consist of: #1) blue cotton and natural color silk tabby weave swatch #2) blue and brown/rust stripe in cotton twill weave; #3) brown/black check in cotton tabby weave; #4) blue, browns, and cream stripe in cotton twill weave; #5) blue and white cotton in tabby weave; and #6) blue and cream stripe in cotton twill weave. These textile documents are with an inked label in script which reads; "Cloth woven by Washington's Mother/ during the Revolutionary war --/ For servants."
Textile document #7 is a brocaded silk with a floral pattern. An inked label in script with it reads: "A piece of great/ Grand Mother Pollard/ dress - worn the day/ after she was married." This likely is referring to Jael Underwood Pollard (1759-1839), the mother of Ellen Hackley Pollard Lewis, the maker of a sampler that accompanies the textile documents. Textile document #8 is a small bundle of thread, positioned on swatch #1.
Label TextAlthough the “homespun” cloth preserved in this collection is attributed to Mary Ball Washington (1708-1789), it is almost certain that her enslaved servants were also involved in its production. A late nineteenth-century account states that during the American Revolution, Mary “labored incessantly with her servants in making homespun clothing for the suffering soldiers.” The cloth collected here was not only made by enslaved individuals but was also intended for use by them. The only other known example of cloth purportedly made by Mary is a bible cover that is now in the collection of Mount Vernon.

The piece of brocaded silk was likely taken from the wedding gown of Jael Underwood Pollard (1759-1839). Jael was the daughter of William Underwood (1720-1773) and Ellen Hackley (1718-1791). She married Robert Pollard (1756-1842) on July 10, 1774. She was the mother of Ellen Hackley Pollard (1776-1855) who married George Washington’s nephew, William Howell Lewis (1771-1822).
Inscribed"Cloth woven by Washington's Mother/ during the Revolutionary war --/ For servants."

"A piece of great/ Grand Mother Pollard/ dress - worn the day/ after she was married."
ProvenanceColonial Williamsburg purchased these textile documents from Neverbird Antiques in 2016.