 |
| Woof, yellow colorway. |
The Westminster Kennel Club show, America's most prestigious dog show, was held earlier this month in New York City. Dogs of all shapes, size and colors competed for glory, although none of the dogs were as colorful as the pooches in Tammis Keefe's dog hankie above. This silk-screened accessory, designed by someone with obvious affection for canines, emphasizes the textures of furry coats - silky and long, curly and styled, short and smooth. Note the tiny white chew bones in the background. Keefe's work is a wonderful exemplar of the long-standing tradition of dog-themed artwork.
After a long hiatus, my husband and I have added new items to our tribute website featuring the work of designer Tammis Keefe (1913 - 1960). Some of the new additions are highlighted in this blog post.
 |
| Labyrinth. |
Cats made the scene at the dog show too, in a "Meet the Breeds" event. In the image above, three dogs (poodles?) will test their senses of smell to find the kitties in the center. The yarn threading its way through the twists and turns may be a nod to Ariadne, a legendary Cretan princess. She gave mythological hero Theseus a string to mark his path through the labyrinth as he sought to find and kill the fearsome Minotaur. I really think Ariadne, not Theseus, was the clever one in that story.
 |
| Giraffes, pink colorway. |
Most of the hankies here and on the website are roughly 14" x 14" and were silk-screened on fine linen. The printed rolls of fabric appear to have then been sent to the Philippines where the individual hankies were cut from the roll and hand-hemmed. The finished textiles were then sent back to New York for distribution to department stores such as Lord & Taylor.
Some of the hankies are approximately 9" x 9" square; perhaps these were pocket squares, which were just ornamental - not to be used anywhere near one's nose. On our website I call a small square like the one below a mouchoir, which just means handkerchief in French. I just like the sound of the word.
In French, a pocket square is a pochette or a mouchoir de poche. Children's hankies were often smaller, too, but they usually featured some kind of child-friendly imagery.
 |
| Moth mouchoir, green colorway. |
By the time Keefe died, in 1960, I suspect that all, if not most, printed cloth handkerchiefs were for show, rather than blow, as the saying goes, as Kleenex and other brands of disposable paper facial tissue were well-established.
Moths also make an appearance in the hankies below, along with dragonflies and some of my personal favorites, ferns. Perhaps Keefe, who lived in New York City for most of her textile career, encountered these insects and plants in her summer home, in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
 |
| Fronds, brown colorway. |
 |
| Hayscented, tan colorway. |
 |
| Autumn, pink colorway. |
Did Keefe do much gardening in Connecticut? It appears she had the tools. This hankie still has the "Kreated by Kimball" gold sticker. Kimball Company contracted designs from Keefe and other artists and produced hankies and scarves. There's also a remnant of a price sticker on Autumn; Keefe's hankies did sell for a premium.
 |
| Floating Flowers. |
From Connecticut to Asia - I've categorized this hankie under Japan in my website as the flowers could be stylized chrysanthemums, a flower associated with the Japanese Imperial family.
 |
| Shrine, green colorway. |
Finally, this hankie in cheery purple, green and gold. I situate this hankie in Southeast Asia; Keefe traveled quite a bit but I don't know if she visited any countries in this area.
How did I come up with the names? I labelled the hankies and other items throughout the website for ease of discussion and navigation. Kimball advertised Keefe's hankies in publications like The New Yorker, and in these ads the copywriters sometimes gave names to the designs, but we don't know if these came from Keefe herself. Mostly, I've named the designs for their imagery or theme. It's been a labor of love.
