Apparently, this was part of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase segment of the Worlds Fair in St. Louis, MO. There are books that show about 80% of the items in the fair. If this can be documented by a museum, it would be invaluable, I would imagine the Smithsonian would be the place to start. Writ them a letter with a picture and see what happens. I had a Chinese garment that was made with the "forbidden stitch" I donated it to the Smithsonian and got a hefty tax write-off that helped us for years. Please be very careful as this is a piece of history if it can be proven and I have a feeling it will be. I will see what I can discover.