Embroidered Hand Towel by Mary Kolb

Date1839

Maker Mary Kolb

MediumCotton and silk embroidery threads on a linen ground with linen fringe

DimensionsOverall: 46 1/2 x 16in. (118.1 x 40.6cm)

Credit LineGift of Anonymous Donors

Object number1987.610.1

DescriptionThis is a long rectangular cotton hand towel embroidered in red cotton and green silk threads. Near the top is a crown and heart. Below this is the signature and date "MARY KOLB/1839" in cross stitches. Below the inscription are a rooster and a chicken facing each other and cross stitched in red cotton and green silk threads. Between the rooster and the chicken, there is a stylized branched heart motif surrounded by the letters "O D H B D D E." Flanking this motif are stylized trees. Below this is a geometric design worked in cross stitch. In the center of the piece is a potted flowering tree.
At the bottom, a macramé border has been applied, ending in a 4 1/2" long fringe. The top edge is a selvage and the two sides are turned to the reverse and stitched.

Stitches: cross, twisted insertion stitch known as faggoting
Label TextMary Kolb embroidered her hand towel with red and green cross-stitched designs. A variation of a popular religious design centered below the date consists of a heart with six branches ending in tulips or carnations. Above this motif are a stylized crown and flower. Circling the entire design are the letters "ODHBDDE," which represent the first line of a couplet, possibly from a hymn: "O edel Herz bedenk dein End." Translated as "O noble heart, consider your end," the axiom was a constant reminder of the proper behavior expected of young women. Mary finished her towel with 1/8-inch hems at the sides. At the bottom, braided fringe was attached to the towel with a twisted insertion stitch sometimes called faggoting.

The custom for young, unmarried women to decorate hand towels with embroidery was common in both Germany and Pennsylvania, especially in Mennonite families living in Montgomery, Bucks, Berks, and Lancaster Counties. Making a hand towel was part of mastering sewing skills and developing self-control- important lessons for young women who were soon to become wives, housekeepers, and mothers. Sometimes these towels were a gift or commemorative piece. More often they were made in anticipation of marriage as part of the household linens required to set up housekeeping. Intended to beautify a home rather than for actual use, decorated hand towels were usually hung for display on the living-room side of doors between the kitchen and living room, or stove room. Frequently painted blue or red, these doors showed off the prettily embroidered white towels to their best advantage. During the nineteenth century, decorated hand towels were also hung on upstairs bedroom doors.

Markings"O D H B D D E"
ProvenanceNothing is known of provenance prior to object's donation.
Nothing is known of maker.