Textiles

Coverlet

The 50,000 objects in the textile collections fall into two main categories: raw fibers, yarns, and fabrics, and machines, tools, and other textile technology. Shawls, coverlets, samplers, laces, linens, synthetics, and other fabrics are part of the first group, along with the 400 quilts in the National Quilt Collection. Some of the Museum's most popular artifacts, such as the Star-Spangled Banner and the gowns of the first ladies, have an obvious textile connection.

The machinery and tools include spinning wheels, sewing machines, thimbles, needlework tools, looms, and an invention that changed the course of American agriculture and society. A model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made by the inventor in the early 1800s, shows the workings of a machine that helped make cotton plantations profitable in the South and encouraged the spread of slavery.

Place: United States

Hester Ann Posey's Sampler

Below family record, pyramidal monument (memorial to deceased sister) flanked by rosebushes and butterflies, under weeping willow tree, on ground-line worked in "crinkled" silk. To left of monument, verse in square outline, all lettering black.
Description
Below family record, pyramidal monument (memorial to deceased sister) flanked by rosebushes and butterflies, under weeping willow tree, on ground-line worked in "crinkled" silk. To left of monument, verse in square outline, all lettering black. Border of geometric flowering vine on all four sides. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: cross, crosslet, satin, stem. THREAD COUNT: warp 28, weft 31/in.
Inscriptions:
"A Family Reccord
Nathaniel and Margaret Pof[s]ey
The Parent's of thof[s]e Children
SoPhia Maria Pof[s]ey born Oct 8th 1813
Fredrick Jerome Pof[s]ey born Feb 28 1815
Margaret Pof[s]ey born Dec 19th 1816
John Pittf[s] Pof[s]ey born Oct 12 1818
Mary Jane Pof[s]ey born Dec 3d 1820
Hester Ann Pof[s]ey born Dec 28 1822
Nathaniel Boliver Pof[s]ey born April 11 1827
Henry Clay Pof[s]ey born Aug 14 1829"
To left of monument in square:
"Weep not my frien
df[s]. af[s] you paff[ss] by.
af[s] you are now. f[s]o
once Waf[s] I. af[s] i
am now. So you
muf[s]t be. prepare
to meet me in
Eternity."
Embroidered on the monument are the following words:
"sacred
to The -
Memory of
Margaret Posey
Who died Feb 2
A.D. 1824 aged 8 YS
1 Month and 14 days
Below monument:
"Hester. Ann. Poseyf[s] Sampler Finished in the 15.th
year of her age. A.D. 1837."
Background:
Hester was born on December 28, 1822, to Nathaniel and Margaret Posey in Baltimore, MD. Nathaniel and Margaret Kemp were married on October 9, 1812, in Frederick, Maryland. Hester was a teacher and did not marry. She died November 7, 1916 in Frederick, MD.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1837
maker
Posey, Hester Ann
ID Number
TE.E365238
catalog number
E365238.000
accession number
124238

Craig Family; Figured and Fancy, double-cloth coverlet;1842; Indiana

This blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double-cloth coverlet features a carpet medallion centerfield composed of "Double Cornucopia" medallions flanked by lilies and scalloped diamonds.
Description
This blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double-cloth coverlet features a carpet medallion centerfield composed of "Double Cornucopia" medallions flanked by lilies and scalloped diamonds. The coverlet’s side borders are composed of a Greek key design decorated with stylized carnations, irises, and thistles. The top and bottom borders feature the signature Craig family, “Bellflower and Bluebell” pattern. The 1842 dated courthouse with cupola cornerblock trademarks identify this coverlet with the Craig family. The coverlet was originally owned by great-grandmother of the donor, Mrs. Tenant of Shelbyville, Indiana. Being double-cloth, this coverlet has two sets of warps and wefts—one set composed of a wool weft and cotton weft, and the other a cotton weft and wool warp.
The Craig Family weavers consist of Scottish-born, William Craig, Sr. (1800-1880), Scottish-born cousin, James Craig (1819-1896), William Craig, Jr. (1824-1880), and James Craig (1823-1889) make up the two generations of weavers who intermarried with other Scottish immigrant weaving families, dominating the coverlet market in Floyd, Decatur, and Washington counties in Indiana. It is almost certain that their regional influence extended into Western Kentucky as well. The Craigs were prodigious weavers and entrepreneurs and the number of extant coverlets attest to this fact. Also of interest is a published interview with William Sr.'s granddaughter, Rena Craig Gilchrist found in Indiana Coverlets and Coverlet Weavers (1928) by Kate Milner Rabb. Rena Craig Gilchrist recounted how her grandfather was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 1800, moving to South Carolina in 1820 to assume the role of foreman at a Southern cotton goods factory. In 1832 the Craigs and other immigrant weaving families, the Gilchrists and Youngs moved to Mt. Caramel, Indiana. In 1838, the family moved again, further distributing weavers, to Decatur County, Indiana. The Craigs at first wove on their farm just outside of Greensburg, Indiana, but soon sons William Jr. and James ventured out on their own, marrying other weaver’s daughters, and establishing workshops in Greensburg and Anderson. Their coverlet weaving became regionally famous and people were reported as having come from fifty to sixty miles by wagon with woolen yarn for enough coverlets for each child at marriage.
The Craigs continued to weave until 1860 when William Sr. retired. Cousin James opened a shop in Canton, Indiana. A local resident described his loom as," “different from any other loom I have ever seen in that the threads of the warp were each run through a loop of cords to which were attached leaden weights about the size of an ordinary lead pencil, and I should think from twelve to fifteen inches in length. I do not remember accurately about that. The other end of each cord was attached to a pedal, of which there was a considerable number. A number of cords may have been attached to a pedal, according to the colors and figures being used. This enabled him to depress any of the threads of the warp that he pleased by operating the pedals with his feet, thus opening a space for the passing of the shuttle, of which he used as many as he wished colors in the pattern.” This description suggests that members of the Craig family were using modified drawlooms, possibly what is sometimes referred to a Scotch loom, which was used to weave figured double-cloth ingrain carpet. This is interesting because the introduction of the Jacquard head attachment, which used chains of punch cards, made figured weaving much faster and cheaper in the decades before the Craig family’s foray into coverlet weaving.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1842
maker
Craig Family
ID Number
TE.T13498
catalog number
T13498.000
accession number
256599

Skein of Japan tram silk in the raw; National Silk Dyeing Co., 1915

One skein of thrown silk: Three thread Japan tram in the raw. Tram yarn was used for weft or filling in woven goods and for knitting.
Description
One skein of thrown silk: Three thread Japan tram in the raw. Tram yarn was used for weft or filling in woven goods and for knitting. Part of a donation of 63 samples representing the processes of silk skein-dyeing, and silk piece-dyeing and printing, given by the National Silk Dyeing Co of Paterson, New Jersey, in 1915. National Silk Dyeing Co., headquartered at 140 Market St., Paterson, NJ was formed from five silk dyeing firms in Peterson, NJ (Auger & Simon Silk Dyeing Company; Emil Geering Silk Dyeing Co., Knipscher & Maas Silk Dyeing Company, Kearns Brothers, and Gaede Silk Dyeing Co.) and a fifth company from Allentown, Pa. (Lotte Brothers under the leadership of Charles I. Auger. National Silk Dyeing immediately became one of the large silk dyeing conglomerates in the nation. It operated into the Great Depression but was eventually broken up and sold off.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1922
1915
maker
National Silk Dyeing Co.
ID Number
TE.T02794.000
catalog number
T02794.000
accession number
58940
catalog number
T2794

Droschel Bobbin Lace Strips Embellished With Alençon needle lace floral motifs

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775-1800
ID Number
2013.0121.49
accession number
2013.0121
catalog number
2013.0121.49

Black Silk Bobbin Lace Edging Fragment

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1815
ID Number
TE.T14490.00C
catalog number
T14490.00C
accession number
277490

Abram Allen; coverlet; Jacquard, double-cloth;1838; Ohio

Abram Allen wove this Jacquard, double-cloth coverlet in Ohio in 1838. Measuring eighty-two inches by seventy-four inches, the coverlet features a stylized tulip, bell-flower, or pear centerfield with bird and tree borders.
Description
Abram Allen wove this Jacquard, double-cloth coverlet in Ohio in 1838. Measuring eighty-two inches by seventy-four inches, the coverlet features a stylized tulip, bell-flower, or pear centerfield with bird and tree borders. The side borders also feature a quadrupled sine curve border and the bottom border is made up of a six-fold sine curve. The word Ohio and the date 1838 are woven into two lower corners of the coverlet. Although unsigned, this coverlet can be attributed to Abram Allen and is similar to another coverlet in the NMAH collection (1980.0089.01). This double-cloth coverlet was woven from a combination of two sets of wool and cotton warps that exchange places revealing the pattern and lock the two separate plain weave structures together in a complementary weave structure. Abram Allen was born May 3, 1796, in Ireland. He married Kate Cata Howlan (1800-1866) June 25, 1818, and died June 7, 1867, in Clinton, OH. Coverlet scholar, John Heisey described him as the only man in the county with a flying shuttle, suggesting he owned a broad loom. This makes more sense when considering that the coverlet is one piece rather that center-seamed. Clarita Anderson noted that later in his life, Allen was listed in various census as both a wagon-maker and farmer, suggesting that weaving was only ever a part of his economic activity in Clinton County. Henry Ford Museum in Michigan and the Art Institute of Chicago both possess coverlets in the style of the one held by NMAH.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1838
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T10093
catalog number
T10093.000
accession number
134186

Cheney Brothers "Broche Silk", 1913

Sample cut of Cheney Brothers "Broche Silk" fabric. Figured silk (and possibly artificial silk) lightweight "tissue" style fabric, jacquard woven, supplementary weft patterned "broche". Repeating half drop design of palmettes within imbricated scallops bordered by laurel .
Description (Brief)
Sample cut of Cheney Brothers "Broche Silk" fabric. Figured silk (and possibly artificial silk) lightweight "tissue" style fabric, jacquard woven, supplementary weft patterned "broche". Repeating half drop design of palmettes within imbricated scallops bordered by laurel . Two weft yarns: a very shiny golden yellow silk or artificial silk, and green. Dull orange (salmon) warp yarns, of silk. Pattern of weft floats in gold and green on a changeable ground of salmon shot with gold. 3"x6" and 6"x8" pieces cut from corner of the sample. (W. 49 in., L. 18 in.)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Cheney Brothers
ID Number
TE.T00094
catalog number
T00094.000
accession number
55080

"Early American Transportation" dress silk, Mallinson's Early American series

Length of sheer silk voile--known as "Indestructible Chiffon Voile" -- Mallinson trade name for a sheer, plain weave, all silk fabric (mfr #1800). Printed with all over pattern (mfr #2764) one of the Mallinson Early American series--titled Early American Transportation.
Description
Length of sheer silk voile--known as "Indestructible Chiffon Voile" -- Mallinson trade name for a sheer, plain weave, all silk fabric (mfr #1800). Printed with all over pattern (mfr #2764) one of the Mallinson Early American series--titled Early American Transportation. The design illustrates such incidents as DeWitt Clinton crossing Erie Canal with canal boat in foreground, train pulling into old Schenectady, Palisades with the Hudson and the Clermont in foreground, as well as other forms of transportation such as horseback, stagecoaches, and early trains. Seven colors (reds, yellows, black) on a white ground. Selvage width, selvage inscription. Judging from drawings by free-lance textile designer Walter Mitschke in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Mitschke designed this print and several others in the Early American series.
Mallinson's 1929 "Early American" series of printed dress silks was based on historical events and figures that were perceived at the time to consitute a shared American story. It was the last of the company's line of designs based on American themes in which each design was printed in at least seven colors, in several colorways, on three or four different ground cloths. The stock market crash and economic depression that followed made the investment in this kind of design unprofitable.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1929
maker
H. R. Mallinson & Co. Inc.
ID Number
TE.T05943
catalog number
T5943
T (/) 5943
accession number
104252

Remnant of Garment Hem with needle lace medallions

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TE.E334991.000
catalog number
E334991.000
accession number
96010

The Legend of Czar Saltan

In the 20th century, women’s hobbies included embroidery techniques such as needlepoint and crewel.This very large and impressive embroidered wall hanging depicts “The Legend of Czar Saltan.” The czar sits in an elaborately decorated wooden chair.
Description
In the 20th century, women’s hobbies included embroidery techniques such as needlepoint and crewel.
This very large and impressive embroidered wall hanging depicts “The Legend of Czar Saltan.” The czar sits in an elaborately decorated wooden chair. He wears a jeweled crown on his silvery hair, and his long flowing silvery beard covers a part of an elaborately embroidered robe. This scene is on a balcony overlooking a walled village with onion-domed buildings, some with crosses on top, a lake with an island, and mountains beyond. Across the top of the picture are clouds, and the initials “e b r 1951-53" are embroidered near the right lower corner. The ground is linen twill and the threads are silk floss, wool, and metallic. The stitches are split, satin, long and short, outline, stem, laid and couched, wrapped loop, brick, seed, closed fly, French knots, chain, buttonhole, and herringbone. Glass and plastic jewels are also used.
LEGEND OF CZAR SALTAN
The legend is a well-known Russian fairy tale, and is the same story on which Pushkin based a dramatic poem used in turn by Rimsky-Korsakov for his Le Coq d'Or Suite. (The Golden Cockerel Suite.) In some versions, Czar Saltan is called King Dodon, but in all accounts he was given the Golden Cockerel by his Royal Astrologer. The Czar set the cockerel up in the palace as a weather vane. When danger approached, the cockerel warned the Czar by crowing. Apparently the cockerel does give advance warning of impending danger on several occasions, and eventually the Astrologer claims his payment. Some versions of the legend say that the Czar's wife was promised to the Astrologer, while others say that it was his daughter. In any case, the Czar refused to make good on his promise and when the astrologer demanded his fee, the Czar struck him with his scepter and killed him. At this point, the Golden Cockerel flew down from his perch and pierced the Czar's skull with his beak, killing him.
The wall hanging was worked on a roller embroidery frame built by Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt, son of Eleanor and Theodore Roosevelt II. Cornelius drew the design on the linen in 1937. It took Mrs. Roosevelt many years to assemble all the materials and she didn't begin working on it until 1951. It was during the long interval between 1937 and 1951 that R. H. Macy & Co., in New York, helped run tests on the various metallic threads to see if they would tarnish. Over a period of many years, Mrs. Roosevelt determined which wools and silks were color fast, and these she used to stitch this piece and a companion one.
Eleanor Butler Alexander was born on December 26, 1888, to Henry and Grace Green Alexander in New York city. She married Theodore Roosevelt II (1887-1944) on 20 June 1910, and they had four children: Grace, Theodore III, Cornelius V. S. and Quentin. She died on May 29, 1960, at Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.
date made
1951-1953
maker
Roosevelt, Eleanor Butler Alexander
ID Number
1990.0656.01
catalog number
1990.0656.01
accession number
1990.0656

coverlet; Jacquard, tied-Beiderwand; 1835-1850; Pennsylvania or Ohio

This Jacquard tied-Beiderwand coverlet features a “Double Rose and Starbust” centerfield pattern with small borders on all four sides composed of addorsed birds and floral motifs. The blue warp yarns are cotton, the filing yarns are green, olive, red and dark blue wool.
Description
This Jacquard tied-Beiderwand coverlet features a “Double Rose and Starbust” centerfield pattern with small borders on all four sides composed of addorsed birds and floral motifs. The blue warp yarns are cotton, the filing yarns are green, olive, red and dark blue wool. The color scheme of this coverlet is atypical, as it does not include white. The coverlet measures 92x80 inches. The pattern repeat unit is 15 1/4x14 inches. The horizontal color banding was woven in three-inch-wide wide. There is a self-fringe on three sides. On two sides it is 2 ½ inches deep on the lower edge it is 4 inches deep. This coverlet is unsigned, undated, and came to the NMAH collections as the gift of a coverlet collector with no other information pertaining to the provenance. Based on the style and colors, it is likely from Pennsylvania or Ohio. The lack of signing or dating may indicate factory production. The style of the coverlet would date it to approximately 1835-1850.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1840's
date made
1835-1850
ID Number
TE.T18212
catalog number
T18212.000
accession number
1977.0101

Hesse brothers; Figured and Fancy coverlet; tied-Beiderwand; c. 1840; Ohio

Vertical rows of symmetrical grape vines, addorsed doves, and carpet medallion starbursts are accented by horizontal bands of blue, gold, and red in this coverlet. The two side borders feature a double border of repeating geometric motifs and scrollwork.
Description
Vertical rows of symmetrical grape vines, addorsed doves, and carpet medallion starbursts are accented by horizontal bands of blue, gold, and red in this coverlet. The two side borders feature a double border of repeating geometric motifs and scrollwork. The bottom border depicts a variety of floral motifs, a house with two chimneys, and, rather unusually, confronted giraffes. The two cornerblocks show a trademark of four, eight-petaled flowers within a box over two more empty boxes. Those other boxes would have contained the date, maker’s name, and customer’s name, if requested. The lower edge of the coverlet has been lost completely. This coverlet is tied-Beiderwand, an integrated weave structure similar to lampas that uses a complementary binding warp to unify two separate fabrics. The warp is composed of 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton and a blue Z-spun cotton single binding warp, and the weft is made up of 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton yarn and high twist, Z-spun wool singles. This coverlet was first owned by the donor’s grandparents, Peter and Eliza Hannon Hunter (married in 1832), and family legend states that Peter bought this coverlet for his wife, Eliza at a local fair around 1840 from an “itinerant weaver.” The myth of the itinerant weaver has stuck with the American cultural memory for generations. While it is true that some weavers did travel to people’s home to weave, they did not carry their looms with them as they were cumbersome and America’s over-land transportation system was not in good working order until the middle of the twentieth century. Traveling weavers would have woven things that couldn’t be produced by the family on the family’s own loom them move on to the next farm. This is not the case with this coverlet; however, it was possibly purchased at a fair rather than custom ordered because of the lack of date and the apparent lack of names in the corner blocks. This is likely a ready-made piece of stock that was sold at the fair Peter and Eliza attended back in 1840. Although there is no signature, the patterns used, particularly that vertical centerfield arrangement and confronted giraffe border, allow us to attribute this coverlet to the work of the Hesse brothers in Somerset, Hocking, and Perry Counties, Ohio. Frederick A. (b. 1801), Frederick E. (b. 1827), and L. Hesse (b. 1809) were Saxon immigrants from what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. They settled in Ohio, each opening their own weaving business. The brothers have extant coverlets dating from the years, 1838-1862 collectively.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1840
ID Number
TE.T10095
catalog number
T10095.000
accession number
181280

Cheney Brothers "Antique Velvet" furnishing fabric, 1913

Length of Cheney Brothers "Antique Velvet" furnishing fabric, 1913. Silk. Reproduction antique velvet. Construction; pile weave, cut velvet. Yarns: warp – gold, weft – gold, pile warp – garnet red. Yarn dyed.
Description (Brief)
Length of Cheney Brothers "Antique Velvet" furnishing fabric, 1913. Silk. Reproduction antique velvet. Construction; pile weave, cut velvet. Yarns: warp – gold, weft – gold, pile warp – garnet red. Yarn dyed. Pattern: “Reproduction Antique velvet,” strie effect (subtle, irregular, vertical striping) from varying pile densities across the width, which varies the intensity of the red. (W. 26-1/2 in., L. 36 in.)
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Cheney Brothers
ID Number
TE.T00074
catalog number
T00074.000
accession number
55080

Cheney Brothers "Colonial Prints" Frisons silk, 1913

Sample length of a Cheney Brothers "Colonial Prints" Frisons dress silk, 1913. Lightweight plain weave made with irregular slubbed spun silk warp and weft yarns. Printed allover floral design with a diagonal meander repeat.
Description (Brief)
Sample length of a Cheney Brothers "Colonial Prints" Frisons dress silk, 1913. Lightweight plain weave made with irregular slubbed spun silk warp and weft yarns. Printed allover floral design with a diagonal meander repeat. Ecru ground, blue and orange flowers with green and yellow leaves and stems. (W. 31 in., L. 36 in.) A page from a Cheney Brothers sample book having two small swatches of this fabric in 2 additional colorways (pinks and oranges; yellows and light purples) is filed in the study swatches. The page is labelled "Colonial Prints" 32 inch.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
maker
Cheney Brothers
ID Number
TE.T00064
catalog number
T00064.000
accession number
55080

Cap

A cap of fine muslin with couched “coronation” or Victorian braid. “A cotton braid, round and graduated from the thickness of coarse cotton to that of a small embroidered leaf in satin-stitch, which indeed it much resembled when worked.
Description
A cap of fine muslin with couched “coronation” or Victorian braid. “A cotton braid, round and graduated from the thickness of coarse cotton to that of a small embroidered leaf in satin-stitch, which indeed it much resembled when worked. Some beautiful articles braided in this material, collars, sleeves, etc. were to be seen in the Exhibition of 1851, but though common enough until that time, it has never since been procurable.” The Lady’s Manual of Fancy-Work by Mrs. Pullan, N.Y. 1859, p. 200
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TE.T17630
catalog number
T17630.000
accession number
318024

Knitted Collar

A finely knitted collar. Knitting involves making loops with two long straight needles, and was a very popular parlor activity in the Victorian Era.Currently not on view
Description
A finely knitted collar. Knitting involves making loops with two long straight needles, and was a very popular parlor activity in the Victorian Era.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TE.T11508
catalog number
T11508.000
accession number
215854

Coverlet; Jacquard; double-cloth; c. 1840-1850; Ohio

This red, white, & blue double-cloth coverlet features a centerfield design of alternating horizontal rows of buildings.
Description
This red, white, & blue double-cloth coverlet features a centerfield design of alternating horizontal rows of buildings. One row depicts a church with large steeple flanked on either side by taverns or inns, and the other row depicts pagoda and Chinoiserie-inspired houses and palm trees. Early 20th century coverlet scholarship has tended to refer to this combination of Western and Eastern architecture, “Christians and Heathens.” This patterns is also almost always found in the border rather than the centerfield. The four borders of this coverlet feature s double row of meandering grape vines. The corner blocks are quartered and display an enlarged grape leaf motif similar to those found in the border designs. The weaver of this coverlet has yet to be identified, but current scholarship points to an Ohio origin and a date of between the years, 1840-1850. The Colonial Coverlet Guild of America and the Iroquois County Historical Society Museum of Wateska, Illinois both possess identical coverlets in their collections. This coverlet is in poor shape. There is a significant amount of loss along the upper edge which is suggestive of heavy use through the years. There is also evidence of self-fringe along three sides, most of which has worn away. This coverlet measures 81 inches by 72.5 inches.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850's
date made
1840-1850
ID Number
TE.T14700
catalog number
T14700.000
accession number
280849

Hooked Rug

A hooked rug with a central floral oval medallion with a scrolled border and flowers in each corner. Hooked with narrow strips of wool on a stamped burlap pattern manufactured by E.S. Frost & Co. ca. 1870.
Description
A hooked rug with a central floral oval medallion with a scrolled border and flowers in each corner. Hooked with narrow strips of wool on a stamped burlap pattern manufactured by E.S. Frost & Co. ca. 1870. Edward Sands Frost was a tin peddler who created zinc stencils to transfer a design for a rug onto a piece of burlap. Eventually he stopped peddling and began his own rug pattern business and developed a method for printing patterns in colors. Ill health forced him to sell his business in 1876, but by that time he had approximately 180 different patterns for rugs, using over 750 zinc plates.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TE.T10004
catalog number
T10004.000
accession number
177848

"Memories of the Alamo" dress silk, Early American series

Length of printed "Pussy Willow" (Mallinson trade name) silk. - A fine soft, radium-like plain weave fabric (mfr #1900).
Description
Length of printed "Pussy Willow" (Mallinson trade name) silk. - A fine soft, radium-like plain weave fabric (mfr #1900). Printed with an all over pattern (mfr #2775) titled "Memories of the Alamo." The design features images of The Alamo, Bluebonnets - the state flower of Texas, and in the background in lighter tones, a "Vision of the defenders of the Alamo" (Travis, Bowie, and Crockett) and Sam Houston on horseback. Six colors and black on a white ground. One of the Mallinson 1929 Early American Series of printed dress silks. Selvage width; selvage inscription.
Mallinson's 1929 "Early American" series of printed dress silks was based on historical events and figures that were perceived at the time to consitute a shared American story. It was the last of the company's line of designs based on American themes in which each design was printed in at least seven colors, in several colorways, on three or four different ground cloths. The stock market crash and economic depression that followed made the investment in this kind of design unprofitable.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1929
maker
H. R. Mallinson & Co. Inc.
H. R. Mallinson & Co. Inc.
ID Number
TE.T05941
catalog number
T5941
T (/) 5941
accession number
104252

Jacob Biesecker Jr.; coverlet, Jacquard, tied-Beiderwand; 1852; Pennsylvania

Jacob Biesecker Jr. (1810-1865) of Franklin Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania wove this Figured and Fancy, red, white, and blue, tied-Beiderwand coverlet in 1852. The coverlet has self-fringe along three sides.
Description
Jacob Biesecker Jr. (1810-1865) of Franklin Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania wove this Figured and Fancy, red, white, and blue, tied-Beiderwand coverlet in 1852. The coverlet has self-fringe along three sides. The centerfield design is a carpet medallion design featuring “Double Thistle,” “Double Leaf,” and eight-point star floral medallions. There is a double border along three sides made up of an “Eagle and Tree” inner border and a diamond and eight-pointed star outer border. The corner block inscription reads, “J. Biesecker Jr. New Invention Franklin T. Ad. Co. 1852.” This coverlet measures 90 inches by 76 inches and was constructed from two panels initially woven as one length on the loom. In the 1850 Federal Census, Jacob is recorded as a weaver living in the household of his father, Jacob, a farmer with real estate valued at $3000. Jacob’s advertisement of “New Invention” on his coverlets also tells that he had purchased a licensing agreement for a patented loom or patterning mechanism. By the 1850s, it was almost certainly a Jacquard head. Jacob Jr.’s pattern book survives in the family and his probate inventory recorded three looms and their fixtures plus two varieties of carpet valued at different rates. It is presumable that Biesecker was employing and training other fancy weavers and operating a small manufactory from his family farm in Adams County. Many of these farm/manufactories also operated mills. More research is needed to fully understand the economic activities of the Biesecker family.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1852
weaver
Biesecker, Jacob
ID Number
TE.T16961
catalog number
T16962.000
accession number
308475.3

"Washington Beauty" Geometric Double-cloth Coverlet; 1800-1850

The pattern used in this coverlet is known as “Washington Beauty,” and can be found in Heirlooms from Old Looms , p.151, published in 1955. The coverlet has "Pine Tree" borders on three sides, and a self fringe at the lower edge.
Description
The pattern used in this coverlet is known as “Washington Beauty,” and can be found in Heirlooms from Old Looms , p.151, published in 1955. The coverlet has "Pine Tree" borders on three sides, and a self fringe at the lower edge. The overall design features “Snowballs.” The coverlet is made of cotton and wool, and was probably woven in the first half of the 19th century. The name of the weaver is unknown. The complex design found in this coverlet is made entirely with squares and rectangles. Coverlet weavers kept “drafts” of the various designs they used, and sometimes sold them to each other.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1850
ID Number
TE.T15486
catalog number
T15486.000
accession number
294051

coverlet; Figured and Fancy, double cloth; c. 1824-1852; New York

This blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet features the “Double Tulip” carpet medallion centerfield associated with New York coverlet weaver, James Alexander and the “Agriculture and Manufactures” group of coverlets.
Description
This blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet features the “Double Tulip” carpet medallion centerfield associated with New York coverlet weaver, James Alexander and the “Agriculture and Manufactures” group of coverlets. The expected eagle and Masonic column borders appear on both sides. The lack of a bottom border or cornerblocks suggests that this coverlet has been cut down during its life. Without the bottom border or cornerblocks, attribution to a maker or group is impossible. The coverlet measures 75 inches by 67 inches. The length is considerably shorter than other complete coverlets of this pattern. The white cotton warp and weft is 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun yarn and the indigo blue warp and weft is 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun yarns. This coverlet was acquired from the donor's father's estate after his death. He was a collector of "Early American things."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1820s-1830s
ID Number
TE.T18040
catalog number
T18040.00S
accession number
321783

Betsy Bucklin's Sampler

Betsey’s sampler includes three distinguishing features of Rhode Island samplers; trumpeting angels with embroidered faces, queen stitch flowers, and a three-story house.
Description
Betsey’s sampler includes three distinguishing features of Rhode Island samplers; trumpeting angels with embroidered faces, queen stitch flowers, and a three-story house. Below the house, flanking flowers and birds is the verse:
“While hof[s]tile foes
our coaf[s]ts Invade
in all the pomp of
war arrayd Ameri
cans be not dismayd
nor fear the f[s]word
or GUn

While Innocence is
all our pride and vir
tue is our only Guide
Women would f[s]corn
to be defyd if led by
WASHINGTON”
This verse on Betsy’s sampler offers a rare opportunity to discover the political thinking of a young girl during the Revolutionary War. She is showing a brave female defiance of Britain and an unwavering faith in George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army. Betsy undoubtedly was influenced by her father who was a privateer during the Revolutionary War. At the bottom of the sampler, flanked by queen stitch flowers, is a cartouche with the inscription:

“Betf[s]y
Bucklin Her
Work Septe
mber
1781”
It is not known who the author of the inscriptions is. The sampler is stitched with silk embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 25, weft 23/in. The stitches used are cross, crosslet, queen, rice, straight, fly, stem, tent, and gobelin.
Betsy [Elizabeth] Bucklin was born on September 20, 1768, in Providence, Rhode Island to Capt. Daniel and Eliza Carpenter Bucklin. On November 11, 1792, Betsy married Samuel Eddy. They had three children - Martha, Jonathan, and Elizabeth. She died of consumption on October 27, 1799, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1781
maker
Bucklin, Betsy
ID Number
2008.0159.01
catalog number
2008.0159.01
accession number
2008.0159

"Orange Peel;" coverlet; overshot; c. 1790-1825

This blue and white, overshot coverlet was woven in a simplified version of the “Orange Peel” pattern. The two-paneled coverlet measures ninety-four inches in length by seventy-two inches wide.
Description
This blue and white, overshot coverlet was woven in a simplified version of the “Orange Peel” pattern. The two-paneled coverlet measures ninety-four inches in length by seventy-two inches wide. The plain weave ground cloth is made up of natural or unbleached linen or cotton warp and weft yarn and the supplementary pattern weft is a 2-ply wool yarn. There is some staining and slight discoloration, but overall this coverlet is in fairly good condition. Because the donor collected this coverlet from and unknown sources, the date and maker of this blue and white, cotton and wool, overshot coverlet is unknown. The coverlet was probably made between 1790 and 1825 and could possibly be from New York. The weaver of this early coverlet would also likely have been a woman or group of women who would pool equipment and skill sets to produce domestic goods for themselves and their neighbors. Since this coverlet dates from the early 19th century, it is quite likely that some or even all of the yarns used were homespun. Professional weavers switched to machine-spun cotton as soon as it was available, but hand-spun wool continued in use in coverlets in the early 19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1850
1800-1900
1790-1825
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T6887
catalog number
T06887.000
accession number
011503

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