Fragment of a geometric double cloth coverlet. Fragment of a sixteen harness double weave coverlet, said to have been woven by two professional male weavers. Fancy block pattern made of squares and rectangles in rose wool and coarse bleached cotton.
Said to have been made by 2 traveling weavers in 1773, in Tennessee. The use of cotton makes this date uncertain (unlikely). The donor, Mrs. Laura M. Allen, was Director of Weaving in Mechanics' Institute, Rochester, N.Y.
Because of the donor, Mrs. Allen's, importance in teaching and preserving early handweaving, and the use of materials she collected in books on the subject, NMAH should keep the fragments she donated in the collection, as part of the national woven coverlet collection.