Sugaring Off (Furnishing Fabric)

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known as “Grandma Moses,” was one of the most popular American artists of the mid-20th century; however, people often know her work only through reproductions, which were marketed through chinaware, greeting cards, wallpaper, and other home goods. Beginning in 1950, Riverdale Drapery Fabrics introduced a line of printed cotton fabrics showcasing some of Moses’s best-known paintings. Sugaring Off—a scene from one of her earliest paintings, Bringing in the Maple Sugar (1939)—presents community members gathering in a wooded area, tapping maple trees in early spring and processing the sap into maple sugar.

Advertisers suggested using these fabrics for upholstery covering, curtains, and cushions; panels of the heavyweight, textured cotton could also be framed like a painted canvas. Moses’s portrayal of an idyllic rural life resonated with American audiences nostalgic for an idealized vision of the nation’s past following World War I. More people could afford such collectables and home goods than her original paintings.