Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Resource Type: Bed coverings

Josie Mast; "American Beauty;" coverlet; overshot; c. 1913; North Carolina

Josie Mast (1861-1936) wove this “American Beauty,” overshot coverlet in Valle Crucis, Watauga County, North Carolina.
Description
Josie Mast (1861-1936) wove this “American Beauty,” overshot coverlet in Valle Crucis, Watauga County, North Carolina. The overshot structure is made of an indigo-dyed wool supplementary pattern weft which floats at controlled intervals across a plain weave ground cloth of unbleached cotton warp and weft. The coverlet also features a with a cotton warp fringe with leno or gauze weave detailing. Josie was the wife of Finley Mast, proprietor of Mast General Store. A well-known weaver of the North Carolina highlands, Josie was one of four teachers who taught weaving at the newly established industrial school in Valle Crucis, NC. Using weaving techniques and patterns typical of the late-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Josie carded, spun, and wove rugs, coverlets, and many household items on a family loom over 100 years old when she used it. In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of Appalachian children and the need for education, Wilson's first wife, Ellen, ordered rugs and coverlets from Josie Mast to furnish what became known as the Blue Mountain Room. This coverlet was purchased by the museum from the showroom of the Southern Education Association, headquartered in Washington, D.C. From 1913-1926, the association hosted a craft exchange with the proceeds from sales going back to Appalachia to fund future work by the various artists. This coverlet is part of a very important accession linked to the SEA, Appalachian settlement schools, and craft revival in the Southern Appalachians.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
weaver
Mast, Josie
ID Number
TE.T1374
catalog number
T01374.000
accession number
056970

1820 - 1840 Achsah Goodwin Wilkins's Appliqued Counterpane

Achsah Goodwin Wilkins designed this appliquéd counterpane, which is similar to several that have been attributed to her skills. Written in ink in one corner of the lining is: “A. G. Wilkins 1820 / M. D. Davis 1890.” She gave many quilts and counterpanes to her daughters.
Description
Achsah Goodwin Wilkins designed this appliquéd counterpane, which is similar to several that have been attributed to her skills. Written in ink in one corner of the lining is: “A. G. Wilkins 1820 / M. D. Davis 1890.” She gave many quilts and counterpanes to her daughters. These were later inherited by descendents. “M. D. Davis” is most likely Mary Dorsey Davis (1845-1939), daughter of Hester Ann Wilkins Davis, and granddaughter of Achsah Goodwin Wilkins.
A bouquet of appliquéd water lilies and roses, cut from different chintz fabrics, is the focus of this counterpane. It is surrounded by two undulating wreaths. Eight floral sprays, cut from another chintz fabric, are between the two wreaths. The ground for the appliqué resembles quilting, but is a fancy weaving of a white cotton double cloth called Marseilles. A wide 7¾-inch roller-printed floral strip borders three sides of the counterpane. It is the only area that is lined.
Achsah Goodwin, daughter of a wealthy merchant, William Goodwin of Lyde, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1775. Achsah became a member of the Methodist Church at eighteen, although it caused difficulties with her Episcopal family. On August 5, 1794, she married William Wilkins Jr. (1767-1832), also a Methodist. In addition to rearing a family, she was active in mission work and the establishment of a Methodist church in Baltimore. Achsah died in 1854.
In William Rush Dunton’s Old Quilts, 1947, one of her granddaughters, Mary Dorsey Davis, provided notes from her mother, Hester Anne (Mrs. Allen Bowie Davis), detailing Achsah’s life. “My mother [Achsah] was a very superior woman, possessing strong sense, sound judgment, great dignity, remarkably self-possessed . . . . She suffered from cutaneous disease . . . most frequently [she] beguiled her weary hours of sickness by designing and laying out fancy spreads in which she displayed beautiful taste . . . . I, as well as many of her descendants, have choice specimens of her handiwork which we prize highly.” Achsah’s access to fine imported fabrics, attention to needlework details, and her design innovations are evident in this quilt, as well as others that are attributed to her. Her quilts are treasured additions to several quilt collections.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1820 - 1840
maker
Wilkins, Achsah Goodwin
ID Number
1995.0011.01
accession number
1995.0011
catalog number
1995.0011.01

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