See more objects with the tag pattern, multicolored, furnishing fabric, textile design, spectrum, collage, brocade, colorways, color system.

Object Timeline

1954

  • Work on this object began.

2000

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2018

2025

  • You found it!

Collage, Textile Design: Arabesque, no. 135

This is a Collage. It was designed by Alexander Hayden Girard and from the office of Herman Miller Furniture Company. It is dated May 9, 1954 and we acquired it in 2000. Its medium is colored paper, ballpoint pen, color pencil, graphite on blueprint. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

With a sharp eye for color combinations, architect and designer Alexander Girard presents neutral and brilliant colorways for his textile designs on these color cards, indicating how the colors are to be used in the pattern. Girard painted his own papers before collaging them, controlling all aspects of a color’s representation.

This object was donated by Alexander Hayden Girard. It is credited Gift of Alexander H. Girard.

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Sample Plate (France)
  • glazed earthenware.
  • Museum purchase from Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund.
  • 2003-5-5

Its dimensions are

21.6 x 39.7 cm (8 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in ballpoint pen, upper left: Orinoka Pattern 8464; in graphite, verso upper left corner: III-3

Cite this object as

Collage, Textile Design: Arabesque, no. 135; Designed by Alexander Hayden Girard (American, 1907–1993); Office of Herman Miller Furniture Company (United States); colored paper, ballpoint pen, color pencil, graphite on blueprint; 21.6 x 39.7 cm (8 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.); Gift of Alexander H. Girard; 1969-165-252

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18677457/ |title=Collage, Textile Design: Arabesque, no. 135 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>