About This Artwork

Made by Theresa Zett Smith
American, 1866–1920
United States, New York, Syracuse

Bedcover Made from Cigar or Tobacco Rectangles Known as "Top Sheets", 1913

108 flags of cotton, plain and twill weaves; fulled; engraved roller printed; pieced; edged with silk, satin weave; embroidered with silk in rosette chain stitches
226.7 x 181.3 cm (89 1/4 x 73 3/8 in.)
Inscriptions: UNION JACK [TWICE], JAPAN, CONFEDERATE STATES, SPAIN AND IRELAND; AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, AUSTRO HUNGARY, FRANCE, GREECE, ITALY, JAPAN, MEXICO, POLAND, AND SCOTLAND; ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, AUSTRALIA [TWICE], AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, BOHEMIA, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, BULGARIA, BURMAH [TWICE], CANADA, CHILI, [THREE TIMES], CHINA [THREE TIMES], CHINA [EMPIRE], CHINA [REPUBLIC], COLUMBIA [TWICE], CONGO, COREA [SIC], COSTA RICA, CRETE, CUBA, DENMARK, ECUADOR, EGYPT, ENGLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY [FIVE TIMES], GREAT BRITAIN, GREECE [TWICE], GUATEMALA [TWICE], HAYTI [SIC], HOLLAND, HONDURAS [THREE TIMES], IRELAND, ITALY [TWICE], JAPAN, LIBERIA, MEXICO, MOROCCO, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NORWAY, ORANGE FREE STATE, PANAMA, PARAGUAY, PERSIA [TWICE], PERU, PHILIPPINE, POLAND, PORTUGAL, RUSSIA, SALVADOR, SAMOA, SAN DOMINGO [TWICE], SCOTLAND, SERVIA [SIC] [TWICE], SIAM [TWICE], SO. AFRICAN REPUBLIC [TWICE], SOUTH AUSTRALIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TUNIS, TURKEY, TURKEY-EGYPT, URUGUAY, U.S. OF COLUMBIA, VENEZUELA [THREE TIMES], AND ZION [TWICE]
The Textile Society of The Art Institute of Chicago Dr. Lawrence S. Thurman Memorial Fund, 1990.131

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, "The American Bed and Its Coverings," November 21, 1990–March 31, 1991

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, "Textile Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago's Collection,"
February 17–May 2, 1993

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, "America the Beautiful - Textiles from the Permanent Collection," March 6–July 21, 1996

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, "Twenty Years of Textile Society Collecting (1978–1998)," December 20, 1997–March 22, 1998

The Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, "An International Collection of Appliquéd, Embroidered and Pieced Bedcoverings," February 28–May 28, 2001

Publication History

Christa C. Mayer Thurman. Textiles in The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1992), pp. 114-115, 148.