Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1947

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2023

2025

  • You found it!

Textile, Shangri La

This is a Textile. It was designed by Dorothy Wright Liebes and made for (as the client) Doris Duke.

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 1947. Its medium is handwoven cotton, rayon, and metallic yarn with supplementary warp pile in uncut loops. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


For Doris Duke’s Honolulu, Hawaii, residence, Shangri La, Liebes created austere cotton drapes with looped fringe bands at the hem that Duke likened to bas relief. This panel is a variation on that 1937 design with the fringe in a checkerboard grid and copper Lurex yarns subtly reflecting light across the textured ground. It is not known if this version was used in the house.

It is credited Museum of Arts and Design, New York; gift of Dorothy Liebes Design and Ralph Higbee, through the American Craft Council, 1973.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 266.7 × 132.1 cm (8 ft. 9 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.

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

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/2318808152/ |title=Textile, Shangri La |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>