Changeable-color textile

Associated Artists

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Candace Wheeler’s (1827-1923) Associated Artists was especially famous for its “changeable” silks, which were woven from threads of two or more colors, or different tints of the same color, to produce a multitone effect that changes with the light. The simplest type of changeable silk is illustrated by this plain-woven silk fabric with a black warp (vertical threads) and a red weft (horizontal threads). When the silk is draped, light falling on its folds emphasizes its two-tone quality.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art