Clare Potter & Dorothy Liebes apron
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
This hostess apron, originally from the collection of Sandy Schreier, was donated to the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum after being loaned for their 2023 exhibition A Dark, a Light, and A Bright: the Designs of Dorothy Liebes. The apron (2024-11-1), from circa 1950, was designed by Clare Potter, a close friend of Liebes, using a Liebes textile.
I created a condition report & treatment proposal for the newly acquired apron, and performed material identification. Fiber identification was performed with polarized light microscopy, finding viscose rayon and wool fibers throughout. FTIR-ATR was used to identify the composition of the metallic threads, finding cellophane laminated aluminum (Lurex) threads, and finding that some of the rayon yarns exactly matched those of other Liebes pieces in the Cooper Hewitt collection.
I entered the apron into The Museum System (TMS) database, & created a storage solution using a prefabricated archival box and acid free tissue paper.
Left: Cover, House & Garden, February 1950, featuring hostess apron by Clare Potter (American, 1903–1995) with Daren Pierce (American, 1923–1984); Layout by Herbert Matter (Swiss-American, 1907–1984); Condé Nast Archive.
Below: FTIR analysis of gold metallic strips from the warp & weft threads (black nylon core with gold metallic strips wrapped in an S curve around). Results show an 81.34% match with cellulose acetate butyrate.
Housing solution for the apron. The apron was stable enough to be housed folded, though all folds were well padded with acid free tissue paper. The apron was wrapped in muslin and tied with twill tape, and placed in an individual tray so it could be housed with other objects.