U.S. Trapunto Banner With Naval Symbols.
This souvenir trapunto features U.S. flags, an anchor, a life-preserver and two fierce-looking Chinese Dragons. The eagle is attacking one of the dragons, suggesting that this piece dates from 1900 and the suppression of the Boxers in Peking.
Made in Yokohama, Japan (circa 1910) by local artisans for visiting U.S. military men from the "Great White Fleet". This practice believed to have been from the period between the 1890's to the early 1930s.
The Trapunto technique consists of adding padding behind a piece of silk to which elaborate designs are embroidered to form a three-dimensional image. Patriotic symbols were a common theme for such items. Many were made and sold by local artisans in Yokohama, Japan, in the first decades of the 20th century. Their market included visiting naval officers and men from America's "Great White Fleet," which was circumnavigating the globe to show the flag to foreign countries. The practice of selling trapuntos is believed to have started in the 1890s or even earlier and it continued until at least the early 1930s. Similar embroidery, made in Japan and other East Asian countries after the Second World War, was often applied to silk or leather jackets.
Two fierce-looking dragons appear in this trapunto composition. The fact that one is being attacked by the eagle suggests that this particular trapunto may date from 1900 or shortly thereafter. That year the United States - with other countries - suppressed the Chinese militant secret society, known as "Boxers." This was known as the Boxer Rebellion which occurred during the presidency of William McKinley. (Taken from Madaus, Howard M., Dr, Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006.)
The important pictured piece is on a black silk background showing two interlocking U.S. flags in red, white and blue silk thread. The top flag has 42 stars while the lower flag has 32 stars visible. A U.S. shield with 13 stars overlaps the two flags. On the left is a red streamer with the motto, "E Pluribus Unum." The flags rest on an anchor in metallic thread. A white silk ring with cord and red stripe (lifesaver) rests on the lower part of the anchor. As previously mentioned, a fierce-looking dragon is placed on each side of the rendition. The dragon on the left is done in metallic thread. On the far right, an eagle in gray silk thread is partially glued to the black silk. The backing of the eagle is paper with Chinese and Japanese characters in print. The eagle has a glass insert for the eye. Framed (outside dimensions 40 x 30).
Compare with other Trapuntos
ZFC0150
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ZFC2258
Exhibition History
Moraga Room Flag Label - 2003
(ZFC0150)
Trapunto Banner With U.S. Symbols
Second Presidio Exhibit
(ZFC0150)
2003 - Gallery I
Trapunto with U.S. Symbols
War & Dissent
The US in the Philippines 1898-1915
October 22, 2008 to February 22, 2009
At the Presidio of San Francisco, Officers Club Exhibition Hall
50 Moraga Ave,
San Francisco, CA
Publication History:
Madaus, Howard M., Dr. Whitney Smith, The American Flag: Two Centuries of Concord and Conflict. Santa Cruz: VZ Publications, 2006, p. 111.
Provenance: Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection (ZFC0150) in 1996 from the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Collection of Baltimore, MD. Delivered to the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House by Marion Butterwick from Verna Pearthree (now-deceased) in 1989.
ZFC Important Flag
Item is Framed
Sources: