Wedding Invitation Suite: Wedding Handkerchief: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Handkerchief designed by Hadiya Williams for the wedding of Shantrelle Lewis and Oluwatoyin Lawson. The handkerchief is blue and folded in fourths with one square of screen printed design in gold pigment. The handkerchief has silhouettes of a man on the left and woman with an afro hairstyle on the right, both in profile and facing each other. Below the silhouettes, three lines join to make a "V" shape design with the letter [Z] in the center, surrounded by the wedding date, [11/19 / 20/16]. Below the silhouettes, the bride and groom’s names are printed in cursive, reading [Shantrelle / & / Oluwatoyin]. Underneath is the wedding date, place, and hashtag [NOVEMBER 19, 2016 / NEW ORLEANS, LA / #JollofandJambalaya]. On the inside of the handkerchief is a white manufacturer’s tag that reads, [Poly-Value® MADE IN CHINA / 100% POLYESTER / HAND WASH COLD / © Tan’s Club. RN 97467 / [paisley design] ®].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2016
• Created by: Tan's Club, American, founded 1997
• Designed by: Hadiya Williams, American, born 1978
• Subject of: Shantrelle P. Lewis, American, born 1978
• Subject of: Tony Oluwatoyin Lawson, born 1978
• Type: handkerchiefs
• Medium: polyester
• Dimensions: L x W (folded): 10 1/4 × 10 1/16 in. (26.1 × 25.5 cm)
• Place made: Baldwin Park, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: Nigeria, West Africa, Africa
• Cultural Place: Africa
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Africa
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Communities
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Graphic design
• Object number: 2018.30.1j
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Hadiya Williams
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © 2016 Hadiya Williams Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.