Facinator and Marshall Field's box belonging to Etta Moten Barnett: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a black fabric fascinator (.1) with a veil and rhinestone decoration in a Marshall Field’s box with lid (.2ab). The fascinator (.1) is constructed of stiff black fabric that is loosely pleated and attached to a black headband. The black wide-spaced netting is gathered behind the headband and is draped over the top of the fascinator to hang in front. On the top proper right corner is a rosette made up of rhinestone clusters. Sewn onto the inside of the headband is a white fabric label with blue text that reads “by / Maria Pia.” The Marshall Field’s box and lid (.2ab) is a white square cardboard box (a) with a separate lid (b). In the bottom right corner of the box lid in gold cursive writing is text that reads “ Marshall Field’s.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1960
• Designed by: Maria Pia
• Manufactured by: Marshall Field & Company, American, 1852 - 2006
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: hats
• Type: boxes (containers)
• Medium: .1: cloth , net (textile) , paste (glass)
• Medium: .2ab: cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.1: facinator): 1 3/4 × 9 15/16 × 5 7/8 in. (4.5 × 25.2 × 15 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.2ab: box): 4 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 9 1/4 in. (12 × 23.5 × 23.5 cm)
• Place used: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Millinery
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: A2022.13.1.13.1-.2ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.