Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1941

  • Work on this object began.

1945

  • Work on this object ended.

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Scarf, America and France United Forever, George Washington 1783

This is a Scarf. It was designed by E. McKnight Kauffer.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Paul Rennie as part of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

It is dated 1941–1945. Its medium is printed acetate plain weave. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


During the war years, propaganda took many forms. including textiles. This friendship scarf celebrated a critical political alliance. Kauffer’s design features the figures of Marianne, personifying the French Republic at left, and Liberty, personifying the United States at right. The ribbon-script lettering reminds viewers of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution in 1783.

It is credited Paul and Karen Rennie Collection UK.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 90 × 84 cm (35 7/16 × 33 1/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805132/ |title=Scarf, America and France United Forever, George Washington 1783 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>