Cushion Top

Art Historical Context

**Cushion Top** by Florence Huston, created around 1936, is a rendering in watercolor, graphite, and and ink on paper, 34.1 x 26.5 cm. This work captures the design of an original cushion top, approximately 12 inches long by 14 inches wide, intricate patterns typical of American folk art textiles. Huston's precise technique highlights the tactile quality of needlework or embroidery, with vibrant watercolors bringing out motifs that reflect everyday decorative crafts from early American homes. As part of the *Index of American Design* (IAD), a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project from the 1930s, this piece served a vital cultural purpose. Launched during the Great Depression, the IAD employed artists to document and preserve America's rich heritage of folk art, crafts, and design through accurate, colorful renderings. Huston's contribution helps preserve vanishing traditions, offering insight into regional aesthetics and handmade objects that embodied American ingenuity and domestic life. Today, housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, *Cushion Top* reminds us of the IAD's enduring legacy in celebrating utilitarian beauty. Its mixed-media approach—combining ink's fine lines, graphite's subtlety, and watercolor's luminosity—makes complex patterns accessible, inviting visitors to appreciate the artistry in everyday items from our past.