Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1937

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2023

2025

  • You found it!

Textile, Schiaparelli, or Panel for a Couturière

This is a Textile. It was designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Museum of Arts and Design as part of A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

It is dated 1937. Its medium is handwoven wool, cotton, raw silk, cellophane, tape measures, metallic inserts; sateen lining, and burlap interfacing. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


This striking panel woven with tape measures and appliquéd with oversized metal scissors was dedicated to French fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) and won the grand prize for textile design at the 1937 Paris Exposition. Schiaparelli, in turn, presented work at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in the section organized by Liebes.

It is credited Museum of Arts and Design, New York; gift of the Johnson Wax Company, through the American Craft Council, 1977.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 271.8 × 132.1 cm (8 ft. 11 in. × 52 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

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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/2318808148/ |title=Textile, Schiaparelli, or Panel for a Couturière |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=29 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>