Squarely in the realm of “cool stuff” that we are able to acquire recently is this silk handkerchief that I saw in an English dealer’s catalogue, upon which was printed a famous image depicting William Penn (1644-1718) agreeing to to a treaty with the Delaware Indians, ca. 1684.  The design was based on an engraving by John Hall (1739-1797), after the painting by Benjamin West (1738-1820) known as “William Penn’s treaty with the Indians” (ca. 1771).  The handkerchief was produced at the Germantown Print Works in 1824, “in commemoration of the peaceful settlement of Pennsylvania and of the friendly welcome with which the first settlers were received by the native Indians.”

Thanks to both the bookseller’s description and Herbert R. Collins’s Threads of History, which is a standard reference for Americana printed on silk.