Textile, Jumbo Junket

Hans Moller, the German-born abstractionist and colorist, brought his predilection for vivid color to his textile designs. Jumbo Junket is a large, playful border print with a circus theme. Two different clowns alternate with elephants. Only the clowns’ faces and hands are visible; they play musical instruments and ruffled collars and cuffs are suggested with squiggly lines. Every other elephant is standing, viewed from the front, or seated on a circus stool, viewed from the back. The design appears primarily in white line drawings on a black ground, with handfuls of colorful confetti-like triangles and circles adding motion and a festive mood.
In 1954, the year this design was released, the traveling tented circus was on its last legs. Two years later, the financially troubled Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus would perform under the big top for the last time, and would make a permanent switch to indoor venues starting with its next season. On July 30, 1956, Life magazine wrote that "a magical era had passed forever."

Textile, Jumbo Junket; Designed by Hans Moller (American, b. Germany, 1905 - 2000); Produced by Associated American Artists (United States); cotton; H x W: 94 × 87.6 cm (37 in. × 34 1/2 in.); American Textile History Museum Collection, gift of Gail Windisch; 2016-35-66