Wilmington, Delaware : silk screen map on linen handkerchief

American textile artist Tammis (Margaret Thomas) Keefe (1913-1960), was best known for her handkerchiefs, linen kitchen towels, and scarves, which featured bright colors and playful designs.

Keefe also created designs for other home textiles, clothing, dishware, greeting cards, and product packaging.

Tammis Keefe originally studied mathematics at Los Angeles Community College, but following a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago during a trip to the 1933-1934 World's Fair, she changed to a career in art. Keefe studied at the Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles (today the California Institute of the Arts). During World War II, Keefe was Art Director of Arts and Architecture magazine, but also worked in advertising design and packaging.

By 1948, Keefe was working in New York City; through her contact with American weaver and designer Dorothy Wright Liebes, Keefe began to supply printed textile designs to the furnishings firm, Goodall Industries. Eventually she designed home decorative lines and wallpaper for various firms. Her design,"Lemons," created for Golding Decorative Fabrics, was shown at the Museum of Modern Art Good Design Exhibition of 1950.

In the 1940s Keefe began to design handkerchiefs; the first six designs were commissioned by J. H. Kimball and promoted through Lord & Taylor. J. H. Kimball produced silk-screened handkerchiefs which printed the designer's signature in the corner. Between 1940 and 1960, Tammis Keefe created hundreds of the handkerchief designs, all of which featured her trademark whimsical humor and bright colors.

"A Tribute to Tammis Keefe," Making It Fun (blog). http://makingitfun.blogspot.com/2010/11/tribute-to-tammis-keefe.html (accessed February 19, 2014). Tammis Keefe Home Page. http://www.tammiskeefe.com/ (accessed February 19, 2014)."Tammis Keefe." http://www.nsfestival.com/tammis (accessed February 19, 2014).