Textiles have long served as both functional objects and extraordinary works of art, woven into the fabric of everyday life and elevated by generations of makers. Hillwood's upcoming exhibition will be the first to focus on this essential yet unexplored aspect of the collection, showcasing the remarkable artistry, technical mastery, and cultural importance of textiles across centuries. Drawing from Hillwood's rich holdings, the exhibition invites visitors to consider the enduring power of textiles, not only as decorative or domestic objects but also as expressions of identity, devotion, innovation, and exquisite craftsmanship.

Marjorie Merriweather Post's Collection

Marjorie Merriweather Post maintained a reverence for textiles throughout her life, preserving antique lace samples, apparel from her girlhood, and examples of textile work created by the women in her family, including her mother, Ella Letitia Merriweather (1853-1912); her paternal aunt, Mary "Mollie" Stanley Post (1860-1925); and her grandmother, Caroline Lathrop Post (1824-1915). Post applied the same criteria to textiles as she did all her collecting: exquisite artisanship and intricate details.

She collected handmade lace pieces and resplendent liturgical vestments and textiles from the Russian Orthodox Church, furnished her homes and personal spaces with sumptuous fabrics, and attired herself and her three daughters in the finest of fashions. Post also maintained a progressive approach to repurposing textiles, such as snipping embroidered sections of a daytime ensemble for an alternate use and upholstering chairs with an antique quilt.

Textiles on View

Organized into four sections, the exhibition will explore centuries' worth of historical textiles; the act of creating such fiber-based pieces; form and function, including lace, embroidery and needlepoint, hooked rugs, and quilts and coverings; and commemorative textiles, which serve as relics of the past. Significant representations on view from Hillwood's collection will include a 17th-century point de France lace panel replete with ornate iconography and an exquisite 18th-century embroidered Russian liturgical textile trimmed with pearls and glass beads.

In addition, Interwoven will feature a selection of works by contemporary textile and fiber artists, exploring techniques that are experiencing a 21st-century resurgence, including embroidery, quilting, hooking, and lace-making. The exhibition will address evolving attitudes about this art form as current society grapples with nearly a century of industrially producing textiles at high consumption rates and the compelling need to preserve the legacy of textile art, particular that of unnamed, often marginalized, creators.