Archibald Davidson wove this blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet for Sarepta C. White in Ithaca, New York in 1835. The centerfield design is made up of a “Double Rose” carpet medallion pattern. The coverlet has two borders along three sides. The one at the bottom of the coverlet features American eagles, with shields, and stars, and horses. The borders that run along the other two edges, feature meandering floral vines and stars. The two lower corners have the following inscription woven into them: Sarepta C. White, Liberty & Independence, Ithaca 1835 A Davidson Fancy Weaver." The blue yarns are wool and the white yarns are cotton. The coverlet has two hemmed edges, and two edges that appear to have been cut, and are now unraveling. Archibald Davidson was born in Scotland in 1771, where he was trained as a weaver. He married Jane McPhail December 10, 1795 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they had five sons one born in Pennsylvania and the other four in New Jersey. They lived in both Tompkins and Warsaw Counties, New York. He died January 5, 1854. In 1832 Archibald Davidson advertised himself in the Ithaca Journal and Daily Advertiser as a “fancy weaver” and went on to inform the public that he had purchased a “patent loom.” In 1849, he advertised for an apprentice, stating that: “None need apply unless well recommended.”Blue and white medallion with roses, eagles nd flowers
Red, dark blue and light blue, double woven jacquard coverlet panel, made with a plain weave. The wool yarns are 2 ply z twist, and the white cotton yarns are also 2 ply z twist. The yarn count is 20 x 17 per inch. The pattern is known as " Peacocks Feeding the Young" with a variation of "Old Boston Town." border (see Heirlooms from Old Looms rev. pp 238-240.) An edge is finished with a 5/8 binding stitched in place with white 2 ply, z twist silk thread. there is a self fringe which measures 2 inches at it's widest point. The object is irregular in shape. There is a 2 foot cut up the center, and over all it measure 80" x 23"
This blue and white, overshot coverlet was woven in a variation of the "Double Bow Knot" and " Window Sash" pattern which is also known as “Lady’s Delight.” Overshot coverlet pattern names, much like quilt patterns, varied according to place and time. The blue yarns are wool singles and the natural yarns are 2-ply, S-Twist, Z-spun cotton. The design repeat is 8.25 inches by 10.25 inches. The coverlet was woven in three panels each approximately 26" wide. The overall coverlet measures 92.25 inches by 79 inches. There is no information about this coverlet’s maker or where it may have been made and used. Textiles such as this were often made at home by women seeking to beautify their homes while providing the bedclothes needed to keep themselves and their families warm. These overshot patterns require only a four-shaft loom.
L. Hesse wove this Figured and Fancy, red, white and green, tied-Beiderwand coverlet in 1840. There is no location or customer indicated in the cornerblock, but we know from other extant coverlets that Hesse and his brothers, both named Frederick were active in Somerset Township, Perry County and Hocking Counties in Ohio. The centerfield pattern features the common “Double Rose and Starburst” motif which is accented by smaller geometric crosses and fylfots (swastikas). There is a double border featuring addorsed “Eagles and Fruit Tree” and eight-pointed stars along the sides and bottom of the coverlet. There is self-fringe along the sides. The coverlet was woven on a hand loom with a patterning device attachment (either barrel loom or Jacquard mechanism) made in two pieces seamed together up the center. The Hesse brothers were active 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. This coverlet belonged to the great-grandmother of the donor. Although we do not know her name, the accession file tells us she was born around 1830 and from Ohio, helping to further situate this coverlet in the proper context.
Draft used as a guide for 4-harness overshot hand-weaving of plain weave (tabby) foundation, overlaid and underlaid by the pattern weft which is bound into the fabric by every fourth warp.
This blue and white, Jacquard double-woven coverlet has a center seam and fringe at the bottom end and rolled hem at the top edge. The centerfield design is composed of two and one-half pairs of floral wreaths or scalloped roundels made up of roses and stylized thistle and six pointed stars between them. The border is composed of grapes and groups of leaves, with a sunflower in each corner block. It is quite likely that this corner block design is an unidentified weaver’s trade mark. The two sets of warp and weft are made of 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun indigo wool and 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun natural cotton. There is a self-fringe at the bottom edge and a hem at the top secured with 2-ply, s-twist, Z-spun yarn. This design matches an image of a rug design that can be found in the object file. The coverlet is likely either a product of Ohio or Indiana and made sometime between the years 1830-50.
This blue and white, Figured and Fancy, double cloth coverlet features a “Double Rose” and “Double Thistle” carpet medallion centerfield. There are borders along three sides which feature alternating “Double Rose” and “Double Leaf” medallions. “1839/A P” appears in the two lower cornerblocks, quartered and reflected. Being double cloth, this coverlet was woven with two sets of cotton and wool warp and weft. The cotton yarns are all 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun, and the wool yarns are 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun. The coverlet is constructed of two panels that were initially woven as one length, cut, and seamed up the center. The coverlet measures 86 inches by 80 inches. According to the donor, this coverlet was woven by hand by his wife’s grandmother near the Syracuse, New York area. The donor’s wife’s father was Charles H. Peck. There are multiple people names Charles Peck from the Onondaga County area in the late 19th century and more research is needed to definitively determine who A.P. might have been. While family legend attests that a grandmother wove the coverlet, it is much more likely that this coverlet was woven by a male professional weaver for an ancestor with the initials A.P. The loom and patterning device used to weave this coverlet would have been cost and space prohibitive for anyone but the professional carpet and coverlet weaver. The design of the coverlet would indicate that the coverlet was woven anytime between the years 1835 and 1845, suggesting that the donor’s wife’s grandmother may have inherited the coverlet from an older ancestor.
A member of the Copp family of Stonington, Connecticut wove this pink, red, medium red, gold, and brown diamond twill weave coverlet in the late 18th century using 2-ply and single-ply linen yarns for the warp and 2-ply cotton yarns for the ground weft. The pattern is similar the pattern known as "Granite State.” The lower fringe is five inches long, and was created by knotting the linen warp yarns used in the coverlet.
Benjamin Hausman, born March 2, 1799, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, wove this cotton and wool Jacquard double-woven coverlet for Jane Paul in 1841. His name and hers appear in the lower corners along with the date. The coverlet is Jacquard double-woven with floral medallions and stars, as the overall pattern, and with a border of trees and flowers. It has no center seam. Several members of the Hausman family were coverlet weavers in Pennsylvania in the 19th century. Benjamin worked in Allentown, Lehigh County, from 1836 to 1845, and in York, York County, from 1847 to 1848. He is listed as a coverlet weaver in the 1850 census of York, York County, Pennsylvania. He moved to Philadelphia in 1852 and in the 1862 Philadelphia Septennial Census he is listed as a weaver. He and his wife Sarah lived with their daughter and son-in-law in Philadelphia. He died c. 1869.
This blue and white, Jacquard, double-woven coverlet is made of cotton and wool. It features the “Bird of Paradise” pattern with floral and geometric borders on all four sides. It is woven in two sections, each thirty-nine inches wide. The sections were sewn together by hand. The date “AD 1842” is woven into all four corners with a stylized floral or carpet design cornerblock now known to be associated with the Auburn Prison Loom House and coverlet weaver, James Van Ness. The original owner was the donor’s father. He lived in Ontario County, New York. Coverlets could be commissioned by a man or a woman for use in the home. Being double-cloth, the coverlet was woven using two sets of warp and weft yarns. The blue yarn is indigo-dyed 2-ply S-twist, Z-Spun wool and the white yarns are 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton. The coverlet is made of two panels which were originally woven as one length.
Not much work has been done on prison weaving in the 19th century. Ralph S. Herre wrote a dissertation while at Penn State University entitled, "The History of Auburn Prison from the Beginning to about 1867." He confirmed that the prison did have a carpet weaving shop, sold to local customers, and even attempted to cultivate and manufacture silks. In American Coverlets and Their Weavers (2002), Clarita Anderson included an entry for a coverlet which had a family history of being from Auburn State Prison and dated 1835. Anderson pointed out that of the four confirmed Auburn State coverlets she had encountered most are Biederwand structure, not double weave. She attributed the coverlets to New York weaver, James Van Ness (1811-1872).
The two Auburn State Prison coverlets in the NMAH collection have a similar corner block organization but different motifs, suggesting the possibility that the individual(s) designing the point papers and cutting the cards for these coverlets were the same person, maybe even Van Ness. More research is needed to confirm Anderson's attribution. It could be, and likely was the case, that the prisoners were trained in coverlet and ingrain carpet weaving by a master weaver, perhaps even Van Ness. At the very least, ornate Fancy weave jacquard card sets were purchased by the prison with the express purpose of producing fancy weave coverlets for general consumption. Prisoners at Auburn State were organized in what became known as the Auburn- or Congregate-Style. Prisoners spent most of their time in isolation in their cells. They were released for work hours, six days a week. They walked silently to work, worked in silence, and lived in silence. This coverlet is a fascinating material glimpse into the culture and economics of prisons in the 19th century.
Samuel Hippert wove this Jacquard, tied-Beiderwand coverlet which features a carpet medallion center field in a stylized “Double Iris” pattern. The bottom and side borders feature pairs of addorsed roosters and garland inner border, inscribed mid-border featuring the weaver’s initials and the word patent, and double flower outer border. The inscribed cornerblocks contain the initials S.H., the location, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and the date, 1837. The use of the term patent in the border indicates that Hippert was weaving on an improved loom with a registered patent. It is possible that Hippert was weaving with the improved carpet and coverlet loom patented by fellow coverlet weavers and industrial machinists, Jonathan Conger and George Deterich. Conger and Deterich registered their patent in 1831. Structurally, the coverlet is 2:1 tied-Beiderwand, an integrated weave structure where evenly spaced warp yarns are dedicated to binding or tying two separate weave structures together on alternating sides of the fabric. This alternation creates a ribbed effect on the surface of the textile that makes this structure easy to identify. The weaver used rose, dark blue, white and green 2-ply , S-twist, Z-spun wool, and Z-spun white cotton singles for the weft or filling and light blue Z-spun singles for the tying warp and 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton for the remainder of the warp yarns. The coverlet was woven in two lengthwise panels and may have been originally been longer. There is significant damage and loss across the top half of the coverlet likely due to insects and storage issues. It is possible it was re-hemmed sometime in its past and that some of the length on the top half was removed. At one time there was a self-fringe on each side and an applied fringe on the lower edge. There is still traces of these fringes remaining.
Samuel Hippert (Hippard) (1808-1886) was the weaver. According to Clarita Anderson and John Heisey, Hippert was active in Mt. Joy and Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania into the 1840s. Samuel and his wife, Mary’s youngest child, George was born in Pennsylvania in 1847. The family must have already been planning a move, because the 1850 Federal Census lists Samuel and his family living in Somers, Preble County, Ohio. He is recorded as working as a wool manufacturer. History of Preble County, Ohio (1881) by H.Z. Williams and Brothers further explained that Hippert opened a woolen mill and carding factory 1848 and eventually bought and operated another nearby woolen factory producing roving, yarn, finished cloth, and blankets from 1854-1860. These blankets presumably being coverlets although Hippert’s signed coverlets all come from his time in Lancaster County. The 1860 Federal Census recorded Samuel and his family living in Cass County, Indiana where he is identified as a wool carder. After that census, Samuel disappears from the record. His wife, Mary, age fifty-six and his son, George, age twenty-three are listed as living in Ward Three, Indianapolis, Indiana in the 1870 Federal Census. George was a clerk at a bookstore, and Mary kept house. What became of Samuel during that decade has thus far remained a mystery. In 1880, George is living in New York City. Samuel apparently returned to Pennsylvania where he died in Harrisburg in 1886. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.
According to an inscription sewn to this coverlet, Mrs. Eunice Moore of Worthington, Massachusetts wove this simple “Block and Table” overshot coverlet in 1800 from gold wool and natural cotton yarns. Moore was the grandmother of Armida Everett, mother of the donors. The coverlet measures 92 inches by 70 inches and was woven as one length, cut into two panels, and sewn up the center. It was common practice to remove the center seam to wash coverlet as their size and weight when wet made them hard to deal with. The last time this coverlet’s seam was removed, the owner sewed it together again backwards. The central pattern would originally have been two side borders and the current outer edges would have been matched up to create a larger centerfield design.
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.
Geometric overshot coverlet. Blue and off-white, blue yarns are wool, white yarns are cotton. Series of conventionalized trees along longitudinal borders and top. Remainder divided into squares with geometrical block designs. Woven in 33" strips & sewn down center, might have been shortened.
This red and white, cotton and wool, overshot coverlet comes from the Copp Family collection of Stonington, Connecticut and was woven sometime between 1790 and 1800. The pattern is a variation of the “Monk’s Belt” pattern most commonly known as “Braddock’s Defeat.” The coverlet is constructed of a natural linen warp, natural cotton weft, and madder-dyed, red wool supplementary weft yarnsThe coverlet is composed of three panels woven as one length, cut, and seamed with a 2-ply, S-twist, Z-spun, linen thread. This a 2.75 inch looped fringe is attached to three sides. The coverlet is a rare example of early imported spun cotton threads being used in weaving. The cotton yarns were not yet strong enough for use as warp threads, but here serve as the ground cloth weft threads.
This blue and white, "Chariot Wheel" patterned, overshot coverlet was a bequest to the National Museum in 1934 from the Misses Long, and had been on loan to the Smithsonian’s collection since 1910. One of the earliest coverlets in the collection, it was initially termed a counterpane. The coverlet was part of "The Arts of the Thread" exhibit in the Textile Room at the National Museum (A&I). The Misses Long were sisters living in the Washington, D.C. area and important benefactors of the Smithsonian at the end of the 19th and early decades of the 20th century. This coverlet is just one of many objects left by the sisters after their deaths. The coverlet is made of cotton and wool with two-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton warp yarns and Z-spun cotton singles making up the weft. The ground cloth is a plain or tabby weave, and the supplementary float patterning uses a high-twist, Z-spun woolen yarn that has been dyed blue almost certainly with indigo. The coverlet, like all coverlets not woven on a broad loom, has a center seam. The coverlet would have been woven as one 32-inch-wide length, cut in half, then folded back on itself and seamed up the middle, making the whole coverlet 64 inches wide. The use of cotton in the warp dates the coverlet to 1790 at the earliest. The 1825 end date was chosen, because the introduction of the Jacquard patterning mechanism all but replaced traditional overshot patterning in many regions of the United States.
This blue and white double-cloth, Figured and Fancy coverlet was possibly made in Scipio, New York in 1830. There are “Double Lily” carpet medallions in the centerfield, and three borders depicting fruit trees, pine trees, and trees with no leaves. It is possible that this border pattern is attempting to represent the changing of the seasons from bare to leaf, to fruiting, and back again. The lower two corner blocks have this woven in: "E.V/Valen/tine/Scipio/N.Y. 1830". According to the donor, the coverlet was made for her grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Hilliker Valentine (1782-1874). The weaver of Scipio coverlets has yet to be discovered. There is no evidence of active weavers working in Scipio; however, there are numerous weavers in Cayuga County. Many of these weavers advertised in local newspapers with several different locations where customers could order their coverlets, drop off their wool yarn, and then pick up the finished coverlet. It likely that the Valentine family placed the order for this coverlet at a local general store of inn, where the yarn and order was taken to a weaver or small manufactory in the county.
This a blue and white, jacquard double woven coverlet, featuring a double roses pattern with 8 pointed stars and large rosettes. Three of the borders feature American eagles, with thin pine trees between them. The two lower corners have the name, Elmira Vendermark , the letters "D+P" (probably the initials of the weaver) and the place of manufacture, Ithaca, and the year 1830 woven into the fabric. D. P. is probably David Pollay. He was born June 3, 1806 in Locke, New York. He died June 18, 1887 in Hammondsport, New York. His first spouse was Sarah Jane Eaton (1806 - 1840) and the second was Violetta Laytonn (1816 - 1907). His corner blocks include his initials, location, date and client's name. He made another nearly identical coverlet for Permala Brown in 1830. (location unknown)
This white and blue, geometric, double-cloth coverlet panel features a “Single Snowball” pattern centerfield and “Pine Tree” border. These patterns were developed in the German States of the Holy Roman Empire at the end of the seventeenth century and were initially used in damask linen weaving on a much smaller scale. Several German weavers published books during the Early Modern period, and they were translated into numerous languages and this style of block weaving, as it is known, spread across Europe. Immigrant weavers brought these structures and pattern to the United States, increased the scale of the patterns and wove them as double cloth both for coverlets and ingrain carpet. This coverlet panel was initially woven as one length, cut, folded back on itself, and seamed up the middle to create the finished coverlet. The center seam was usually removed to wash coverlets as the double cloth would have been heavy and unwieldly when wet otherwise. The coverlet panel measures 84.5 inches by 34.5 inches, and there are traces of self-fringe along the bottom edge. The upper edge has been repaired with a blue printed cotton band to prevent unraveling. This coverlet panel is in overall poor shape and features several areas of loss. The “Pine Tree” borders found along three sides were created from fractional reduction of the main block patterning. While women were fully capable of weaving overshot and summer and winter coverlets on their own simple looms, many of the geometric double loom patterns required looms with multiple shafts and are traditionally associated with male, professional weavers. There is no information about who may have woven this coverlet or where it may have come from.
Jacquard, single weave coverlet in red, blue and natural. [Also described as red, white, blue & green.] Fringe on 3 sides. 1. (border) potted flowers 2. (center) medallion tiles--All corners say "Manufactured by Jacob Schnell near Shrewsberry county PA 1869." The weave is based on a compound plain weave with foundation warp and weft and supplementary pattern wefts. The warp yarn is white 3 ply, s twist cotton, the blue in s single, ply z twist cotton .Ground fill=white single, z twist cotton pattern fill, indigo, red and dark green 2 ply, s twist wool. The coverlet is seamless. The pattern field consists of 9 large blocks filled with garland-massed concentric corcles. the borders on all 4 sides have a regular repeat of potted stylized flowers. Jacob Schnell was born July 24, 1815, to John and Anna Maria Schnell in Schrewsbury, York County, PA. He married Chatharine Keller (1815-1897). He died March 16, 1902. His coverlets have been found dating between 1844 and 1870.