Textiles - Overview
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.
"Textiles - Overview" showing 207 items.
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Overshot Copp Coverlet
- Description
- This cotton and wool overshot coverlet in red, green, and white is part of the Copp collection of late 18th-and early 19th-century, costume and household textiles given to the Museum in the late 19th century by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. The Copps were a middle- class family of merchants and businessmen who first settled in America in 1635. They imported items for their shop from England, Europe, and India, and engaged in the home production of textiles as well. This single-woven coverlet was made in the early 19th century, and the overall design is similar to the one known as “Worlds Wonder.” The use of the color green is interesting, as there were no direct green dyes until the discovery of synthetic dyes in the middle of the 19th century. Before that time, when the color green was wanted, yarns or fabric would first be dyed blue and then yellow, using natural dyes. The weaver of this coverlet is unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1800-1825
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*H006674
- catalog number
- H006674.000
- accession number
- 028810
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Rose and Table Coverlet
- Description
- This single-woven cotton and wool overshot coverlet was made in the early 19th century. It is part of the Copp Collection of costume and household textiles given to the Museum in the late 19th century. The coverlet was woven in two sections, which were sewn together. The patterns used are known as “Four Roses” and “Table,” and the coverlet is finished with a hand-woven wool fringe two and one-half inches deep. The center seam, fringe, and hems are all sewn with cotton thread. The weaver and the owner remain unknown. The Copps first arrived in America in 1635. By the 18th century, the descendents of the first Copps were living in Stonington, Connecticut, working as merchants and businessmen. They imported textiles for sale, and like other colonists, they engaged in some home production as well.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1780-1810
- early 19th century
- 1800-1825
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*H006678
- catalog number
- H006678.000
- accession number
- 028810
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1790 - 1810 Copp Family's "Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt
- Description
- This quilt is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early-nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. All are a part of an extensive gift of household textiles, costume items, furniture, and other objects that belonged to his family from 1750 to 1850. The Copp Collection continues to provide insights into New England family life of that period.
- The pieced blocks on this quilt, a variation of the “Nine-patch” pattern, are each made of one of nine different block-printed cottons. These are symmetrically arranged according to the particular print, and alternate with plain white blocks. The quilting pattern consists of parallel diagonal lines on the pieced blocks contrasting with 1½-inch shells on the white blocks, all quilted at 7 stitches per inch.
- An analysis of the household textile collection donated by John Brenton Copp can be found in the Copp Family Textiles by Grace Rogers Cooper (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). In the book the author summarizes the family background. “The first Copp to reach America was William, a 26-year-old London shoemaker who in 1635 set out for the Massachusetts Colony on the good ship Blessing. He landed east of Boston and became the first owner of Copp’s Hill in north Boston . . . . William’s son Jonathan established the Connecticut branch of the family around Stonington later in the seventeenth century. Many of his male descendents gained comfortable prosperity as merchants and businessmen, while their wives and daughters led full lives as mothers of the large families in which education and refinement were encouraged . . . . The long succession of Jonathans, Samuels, Catherines, Esters, Marys, and Sarahs makes it rather difficult to set in order the generations and their contributions to the collection.” The exact maker of this “Nine-patch” quilt is unidentified, but it was probably made by one or more members of the Copp household.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1790-1810
- maker
- Copp Family
- ID Number
- TE*H006679
- accession number
- 28810
- catalog number
- H006679
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1790 - 1810 Copp Family's Framed Center Pieced Quilt
- Description
- This pieced-work example is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. All are a part of an extensive gift of household textiles, costume items, furniture and other objects that belonged to his family from 1750 to 1850. The Copp Collection continues to provide insights into New England family life of that period.
- The arrangement of the pattern of this quilt is one found frequently in eighteenth-century and early-nineteenth-century quilts, a succession of borders framing a center panel of pieced work. A view of the pieced center of this quilt seen from the right side, suggests the shape of a tree, and the printed fabrics repeat in mirror fashion in each row about ninety percent of the time. Perhaps the center was erroneously placed in this direction, or it was meant to be viewed from the bedside. The lining is pieced of much-mended linen and cotton fabrics that originally were probably sheets. On one piece, the initials “HV” are cross-stitched in tan silk thread. It is quilted in an overall herringbone pattern, 5 or 6 stitches per inch.
- The clothing and furnishing fabrics used in the quilt top span a period of about forty years. This, and the fact that the Copp family was in the dry goods business, may explain why the quilt includes more than one hundred and fifty different printed, woven-patterned, and plain fabrics of cotton, linen and silk. Although the array of fabrics is extravagant, economy is evident in the use of even the smallest scraps. Many blocks in the quilt pattern are composed of several smaller, irregularly shaped pieces. Two dresses, in the Copp Collection, one from about 1800 and the other from about 1815, are made of fabrics that appear in the quilt.
- An analysis of the household textile collection donated by John Brenton Copp can be found in the Copp Family Textiles by Grace Rogers Cooper (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). In the book the author summarizes the family background. “The first Copp to reach America was William, a 26-year-old London shoemaker who in 1635 set out for the Massachusetts Colony on the good ship Blessing. He landed east of Boston and became the first owner of Copp’s Hill in north Boston . . . . William’s son Jonathan established the Connecticut branch of the family around Stonington later in the seventeenth century. Many of his male descendents gained comfortable prosperity as merchants and businessmen, while their wives and daughters led full lives as mothers of the large families in which education and refinement were encouraged . . . . The long succession of Jonathans, Samuels, Catherines, Esters, Marys, and Sarahs makes it rather difficult to set in order the generations and their contributions to the collection.” The exact maker of this quilt is unidentified, but it was probably made by one or more members of the Copp household.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1790-1810
- maker
- Copp Family
- ID Number
- TE*H006680
- accession number
- 28810
- catalog number
- H006680
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Snowball Tree Coverlet
- Description
- This blue and white double-woven coverlet features a "Snowball Tree" motif. It was woven with cotton and wool yarns, and has a fringe on all four sides. The lower edge has a self-fringe, while the sides have tape fringes that travel to the top edge and run along that edge for twenty-two inches. This coverlet was woven in two sections that were sewn together on each side. According to the donor, the yarn was spun and the coverlet was woven in the home of her great-grandmother (no name given.) The coverlet dates from the first half of the 19th century. Double-woven coverlets are reversible, with the dark color dominant on one side, and the light color dominante on the other. Such coverlets are complicated to weave and require two separate sets of warp and filling yarns.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1800-1850
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*H012765
- catalog number
- H012765.000
- accession number
- 053657
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Blue and White LaTourette Coverlet
- Description
- Either Sarah or Henry LaTourette, of Fountain County, Indiana, is believed to have woven this cotton and wool Jacquard double-woven coverlet in 1858. The coverlet is woven in two pieces, which were sewn together. It features stylized flowers in rectangles, with a flower and vine border. Sarah (1830—1914) and Henry (1832—1892) were two of weaver John LaTourette’s fourteen children, and coverlet weavers in their own right. When John died in 1849, Sarah and Henry continued weaving in Indiana. They used their father’s corner flower trademark, but added the word “Year” to distinguish their work from his. Since Sarah and Henry used the same trademark, it is impossible to be certain which coverlets were made by Sarah (one of the few known female Jacquard weavers) and which were made by her brother. Sarah married John Van Sickle in 1870 and moved to Kentucky. Her brother married Elizabeth Cooper in 1872. Henry died in 1892, and Sarah died in 1914. Both Henry and Sarah are buried in the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Covington, Indiana.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1858
- referenced
- LaTourette, Sarah
- maker
- LaTourette, Sarah
- LaTourette, Henry
- ID Number
- TE*T002735
- catalog number
- T02735.000
- accession number
- 058524
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hempfield Railroad Coverlet
- Description
- This double-woven Jacquard coverlet was made near Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1851. It features the Hempfield (Hemfield) Railroad, which ran from Wheeling to Washington, Pennsylvania. The coverlet is made of cotton and wool, and features railroad engines and coal cars in its border. The profile of Mr. M. T. McKennon, founder and first president of the railroad, can be seen in medallions in the corners. The coverlet features stylized flowers in rectangles, with a flower and vine boarder. The coverlet was woven in two sections and sewn together. The weaver of this coverlet is unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1851
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T007317
- catalog number
- T07317.000
- accession number
- 123286
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1789 Overshot Coverlet
- Description
- The date 1789 and two letters (no longer readable) are embroidered into this double-woven coverlet in cross-stitch. The pattern features a variation of the "Pine Tree" motif in the border, and repetitive squares and diamonds in the center. Three of the four edges have an applied fringe. The coverlet is believed to have been made by a member of the Brown family of the village of Emilie, Pennsylvania, and received by the donor from his mother's father, Henry C. Brown (1848—-1921). He obtained it from his father, John B. Brown, of Emilie, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The maker of the coverlet is unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1785-1800
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T007878
- catalog number
- T07878.000
- accession number
- 142620
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Jacob Impson Coverlet
- Description
- The weaver of this Jacquard double-woven cotton and wool coverlet, Jacob Impson (1802—1869), worked first in Ludlowville, New York, and then in Cortland Village, New York. His name, the name of the owner (Lois Burnham) and the date 1834 appear in both of the lower corners of this coverlet. The words “Lady’s Fancy” (which may be the name of the design) appear across the upper edge of the border, and the words, “Cortland Village” appear across the lower area of the border, just above the finished edge. This coverlet was made at the height of the “Fancy” period (1790—1840) in the decorative arts. During the “Fancy” period, items were covered with bright designs with lots of movement rather than the classical motifs used in other periods. This coverlet was woven in two pieces and sewn together.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1834
- owner
- Burnham, Lois
- weaver
- Impson, Jacob
- ID Number
- TE*T008113
- catalog number
- T08113.000
- accession number
- 144578
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Snowball and Tree Twill Weave Coverlet
- Description
- This hand-woven, overshot, turned twill coverlet was made in the first half of the 19th century by an unknown weaver. It features a “Snowfall” pattern, with a “Pine Tree” or “Snowball Tree” border. The coverlet was woven in two sections that were later sewn together. It is made of cotton and wool yarns, and has a self fringe on three sides. Turned twill coverlets have the twill weave as their basic construction rather than the plain weave. Each weaver had his own collection of patterns for coverlets and other household textiles. Some weavers published “drafts” of their patterns and sold them to their fellow weavers.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1800-1850
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TE*T008954
- catalog number
- T08954.000
- accession number
- 164228
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center