Parasol

This cream-colored silk parasol is among more than a dozen in the collection. Featuring a delicately carved wooden handle, it appears to be the same one that Helen holds in a 1905 portrait by the French artist Théobald Chartran. His painting depicts 16-year-old Helen in a frilly lace dress with a rose-studded hat and parasol adorned in pink ribbon. Parasols, originally primarily practical protection from the sun’s rays, became increasingly ornamented after 1850, and often were designed as part of a lady’s fashion ensemble.