American Vines Embroidered Shawl

An art scarf inspired by The Met collection. The fruiting, flowering vines embroidered on this charming shawl recall the 18th-century embroidery embellishing a bedcover housed in The Met’s American Wing. Original embroidered textiles from this period in American history are rare; most extant examples are preserved in museums, and many others were repurposed to salvage the artisan’s work. The vines on the Museum’s bedcover were likely transferred from a set of bed curtains, perhaps during the 19th-century Colonial Revival movement. The bedcover appears to be an heirloom of the Cabot family, who resided in Salem, Massachusetts, at the time the embroidery was made around 1760. Click here to learn more about our newest Met-inspired designs.