In 1926, Steichen was approached by the art director of Stehli Silk to create images that could be transformed into textiles as part of an initiative called Americana Prints, through which the company aimed to leave behind traditional elements like flowers in favor of designs appropriate for modern life. Steichen photographed compositions of everyday items including eyeglasses, thread, sugar cubes, tacks, and, as here, matches, creating inventive designs that were produced on fabrics sold by the yard.

Before photography gained widespread acceptance as an art form, many practitioners avoided any hint of commercial entanglement. Steichen, however, had an expansive vision of the medium, working in fine art photography and commercial industries as disparate as fashion and the military. He brought this populism to his time as head of the photography program at the Museum of Modern Art, where he organized Family of Man, the 1955 show that still holds the record for the most-visited photography exhibition in history.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)