In 1909, when it moved from Copley Square to its present location, the MFA established a dedicated textile study center where art students, embroiderers, weavers, stage designers, historians, collectors, and specialists in architectural preservation visited often for object-based study. In 1886, Denman Waldo Ross (1853–1935), MFA trustee, professor of Design at Harvard University, and noted collector of global art, donated 700 textile fragments to the MFA that embodied the principles of design excellence. Textile study rooms like the MFA’s demonstrated their commitment to encouraging the industrial production of objects that were both useful and beautiful. Textiles, an infinite wellspring of surface design and technical innovation, were central to this movement. Influenced by proponents of design reform such as John Ruskin and William Morris, the MFA’s founders looked to key institutions, such as the Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum) in London, where collections that spanned civilizations and cultures became resources for the study of art and design. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was founded during the design reform movement of the late 19th century, when New England was the epicenter of the nation’s textile industry.
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