Josué Heilmann (1796–1848), Alsatian Inventor of Machine for Combing Cotton, from the series Taisei ijin den [Biographies of great people of the Occident]

Attributed to: school of Utagawa Kuniteru II, Japanese, 1829–1874
Publisher: Monbushō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, active 1870–2001
Period: Meiji period, 1868–1912
Date: 1873
Material: Color woodblock print
made in: Tokyo, Japan, Asia
Classification: Prints
Collection: Asian Art
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 14 5/8 in. × 10 in. (37.1 × 25.4 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Lowenhaupt
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 297:2020.6

NOTES

This print illustrates Josué Heilmann, the Alsatian inventor of the machine for combing cotton, with members of his family. A native of Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin, France, Heilmann is said to have discovered the principle which made his invention successful while watching his daughter having her long hair combed, as the image portrays. Heilmann’s machine, which was patented in France in 1845 and in England in 1846, not only combed cotton with a perfection that had never before been attained, but by the use of certain modifications it was capable of being applied to all other textile materials.

Back to search

We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.