REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 31 



ber of exceedingly choice examples. While partly composed of 

 loans, the majority of the specimens are the property of the Museum, 

 the entire contents of one of the cases having, in fact, been received 

 by the Government in 1841 as a gift from the Imam of ISIuscat. 

 Arabia, together with many other beautiful and costly presents. A 

 fine Cashmere shawl which belonged to Mrs. John E. McElroy, 

 sister of President Arthur, is exhibited in the Hayes case. 



The remainder of the costume collection fills the six American 

 cases and the sloping part of the long wall case below the windows 

 with a very great variety of articles, in some respects no less inter- 

 esting than those already reviewed. It comprises parts of costumes, 

 accessories of apparel, and the myriad objects associated with the 

 daily life of woman. These are mostly heirlooms, treasured for their 

 associations, for their beauty and daintiness, or for their costl.y and 

 exfjuisite craftsmanship. The arrangement, though mainly by fam- 

 ily grouping, is artistic and tasteful, and the general effect is of ele- 

 gance and refinement. Summarizing briefly, we find many lace and 

 other articles pertaining to dress, including a beautiful piece of piiia 

 work; handkerchiefs of lace and fine linen; gloves and mitts, with 

 their embroidered containers; calashes and bonnets; hairpins and 

 superb tortoise-shell combs; fans of exquisite make and embellish- 

 ment ; ornamented housewives and workbags, with sewing and knit- 

 ting materials ; pincushions, aprons, slippers, buckles, and toilet arti- 

 cles; numerous small and dainty ornaments of the boudoir; calling 

 card and snuff boxes, opera glasses, lorgnettes, umbrellas, parasols, 

 etc. Most resplendent is the display of jewelry, from antique to mod- 

 ern make, of endless variety, and including much of exceptional rich- 

 ness in material and workmanship. In one of the American cases 

 are dainty lots of exquisite needlework and other family relics, show- 

 ing the great taste with which our ancestors provided articles for 

 their personal use. In the long wall case is contained a collection of 

 colonial costumes illustrating the type of clothing worn by men on 

 ordinary and dress occasions from 1700 to 1800, formerly the prop- 

 erty of the Smith family of the Colony of Maryland ; relics of colo- 

 nial and early nineteenth century times in Philadelphia ; dresses and 

 jewelry of an early period from Kingston, N. Y. ; and laces and lace 

 costumes, fans, China and India shawls, jewelry, etc., from several 

 sources. 



Installed in the upright part of the western wall case and in three 

 adjacent alcove cases is the historical collection of American china, 

 assembled by the late Eear Admiral F. W. Dickins, United States 

 Navy, and deposited by Mrs. Dickins, which was fully described in a 

 previous report. It is especially notable for its relation to important 

 •periods and for the number of White House pieces which it contains. 



