Cora Parker

Cora Parker was an artist active in the field of design documentation during a focused period between 1935 and 1938. Her documented output consists of fifteen renderings created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a comprehensive federal project tasked with recording the history and material culture of American decorative and folk arts.

Parker specialized in creating detailed, technical illustrations that documented historic domestic objects. Her work often focused on textile arts and furniture, emphasizing pattern, construction, and material integrity. Key examples of her documentation include textile studies such as the Patchwork Quilt, the Crib Quilt, and the Night Cap. Parker also documented early American furniture forms, including renderings of a Child's Chair (View of Seat Bottom) and a Child's High Chair.

The precision and historical significance of her IAD documentation establish Parker’s place within the history of American design preservation. All of her known works are represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Art. Today, these Cora Parker prints are widely accessible for scholarly review. Due to their nature as historical documentation, this body of work often resides in the public domain, allowing for the widespread availability of high-quality prints and downloadable artwork.