Equipment

Unknown

19th century · wood · Costume Institute

Jessie Franklin Turner was said to have made many of her own textiles, both by printing and dyeing. She may have used these printing blocks to physically create her textiles or simply for design inspiration. When assembled, these eleven blocks form a Renaissance-inspired motif featuring a large pomegranate and vine element. One hallmark of Turner's designs is motifs, silhouettes, and decoration drawn from various world cultures. Many of her designs feature Eastern design elements, so it is interesting to see another locale and time period that inspired her designs. Turner retired from her fashion career in approximately 1942, and because she frequented the Brooklyn Museum's Study Room and Edward C. Blum Design Lab during her career its possible she could have been motivated to give these blocks to be used as inspiration by other designers who used the Lab.

Artist

Unknown

Date

19th century

Medium

wood

Culture

Unknown

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Jessie Franklin Turner, 1942