Images(2)

Embroidered Hand Towel by Mere Floy

Date1799

Maker Mere Floy

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania

MediumCotton embroidery threads on a linen ground (fibers identified by microscope)

DimensionsOH: 55" x OW: 18 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2022.610.2

DescriptionThis is a long, rectangular decorative hand towel worked in red cotton embroidery threads on a white linen ground. The linen is woven in plain weave with horizontal bands of float-weave construction. It has a self fringe at bottom, and an 1/8" hem at top and sides. A centered rectangle enclosure at top contains the date "1799" in red cross stitches. There are scattered stars and abstract trees surrounding the rectangle. Below this is the name "MERE * FLOY" in red cross stitches inside a horizontal band of red cross stitches. The remainder of the towel is void of decorative stitches.
Stitches: cross, running, whip
Label TextEmbroidered hand towels such as this one by Mere Floy, are often called "show towels" today because they were seldom, if ever, intended for actual use. Instead they were hung for display purposes inside guest rooms or on the living-room side of doors between the kitchen and living room of nineteenth-century Pennsylvania-German households.
This towel is dated 1799, an early date for show towels. The maker who signed her name "MERE FLOY" has not been identified.