This coverlet was woven by the LaTourette family, likely John LaTourette (1793-1849) in Fountain County, Indiana in 1842. John and his wife moved from New York and New Jersey first to Germantown, Ohio in 1816. The family moved again in 1828 to Fountain County, Indiana. By 1840, John had established a successful weaving business for himself and his family on their farm. John trained both his daughter Sarah (1822-1914) and son, Henry (1832-1892) to weave as well, and after John’s death in 1849 his children continued the thriving business until 1871. The family was of French Huguenot stock, migrating to New York at the end of the seventeenth century. This coverlet was woven in two panels on a hand loom with a Jacquard attachment. The family still possesses a photograph of the loom attachment sitting on the porch of the house in Indiana. The centerfield pattern is an elaborate floral carpet medallion arrangement. There are borders along three sides. The side borders feature flowering urns and floral motifs, and the lower border depicts scrolling floral designs. The LaTourette family all used the same rose cornerblock design. Sarah and Henry’s later coverlets incorporate the word “YEAR” in to the cornerblock designs differentiating them from those of their father.
The blue and white, Jacquard double-cloth coverlet features a carpet medallion centerfield design composed of floral medallions and scalloped foliate-filled diamonds. The border is a meandering/running floral design and unique to the maker, John LaTourette. There is a self-fringe at the lower edge of the coverlet. A stylized flower trademark is woven into each of the lower corners, and below it, the date 1844. This flower trademark is associated with the LaTourette family of Fountain County, Indiana, and the 1844 date suggests that John (Jean) S. LaTourette was the weaver.
The LaTourette family immigrated to Staten Island, New York in 1685, just after Louis XIV’s revocation of the Edict of Nantes, when French Protestants, known as Huguenots, were forced to either convert to Catholicism or leave the Kingdom of France. As a result, there was a mass exodus of craftspeople to Protestant Europe and the British American colonies. John (Jean) S. LaTourette (1793-1849) was born in New Jersey to a weaver and Revolutionary War veteran also named John G. Latourette (1749-1813). After serving in the War of 1812, John married his wife, Sarah Schenck (1799-1873) in 1816.
The couple immediate headed west, first settling in Germantown, Ohio were the first half of fourteen children were born. In 1828, John LaTourette purchased eighty-acres in what would become Wabash Township, Fountain City, Indiana. The LaTourettes were among the first European settlers in the area. The family initially lived in a log cabin and spent most of their energy clearing the land, farming, and weaving a variety of goods for their neighbors.
After 1840, the weaving began to shift to exclusively coverlets and the log cabin became the loomhouse as the family built a larger brick home on their farm. This is also the time that two of his children, Sarah (1822-1914) and Henry (1832-1892) began to weave with their father. There are several extant accounts that there were at least three looms on the property. In an interview, John’s youngest son, Schuyler LaTourette described the looms the family used to weave the coverlets, indicating that they used punch-cards associated with the Jacquard loom introduced to the United States during the 1820s. John S. LaTourette died in 1849, leaving the booming weaving business in the able hands of his daughter Sarah and son Henry who continued to weave coverlets until 1871.
This coverlet is in excellent overall condition and is a wonderful example of one of Indiana’s famous coverlet-weaving dynasties. We can attribute this coverlet to John because of the 1844 date during his lifetime and the omission of the word “year” from the cornerblock. His children would continue to use the same cornerblock as their father but added the word “year” to differentiate their work from that of their father.
Jacquard woven, white cotton and linen single weave coverlet. Unusual stylized vegetation in repeats of alternating stripes. One consists of stylized flowers in a footed 'bowl". the other has melon shaped vegetation coming out of another footed container. Repeat 12.5" x 16.5" w. Side borders are 6 3.4" deep and the lower border is 7 1/2" deep. There is a star motif in each of the lower corner boxes. The coverlet was purchased in Pennsylvania. It could have been made in Pennsylvania or Maryland. Andrew Krump of Hanover Pa. used some of the same motifs as seen in this coverlet. Ten other coverlets made of cotton and linen have been seen.
Fragment of a geometric double-cloth coverlet. Blue and burnt orange wool, geometric, double-woven or double-cloth, all wool, coverlet fragment. This cloth has two layers, and the layers are connected by threads which go through to the other side to form the design on that side. The designs therefore are exactly the same only reversed in color. The design is geometric. The middle consists of a cross. Around the outside of the cross are eight squarish crosses. There are 4 small squares at each corner. The space between these shapes is the square cross. There are 9 of these designs evenly spaced out over the entire piece. The repeat measures 4 5/8 " x 5". The coverlet is made with 2 ply s twist wool. The yarn count is 17 x17. The repeat of the design measures 4 5/8 " x 5".
Coverlet fragment. Plain weave, overshot; dark blue wool, beige cotton, geometric design. Yarn count 40 x 40. One selvage is present. The design is formed by blue weft floats on a plain weave. The pattern is geometric. There is a rectangle in the middle with 4 lines coming out of the corners. There is a long oblong shape beside, above, and below each of these x shapes. On this piece, there are four separate units with the lines coming together in the center. The pattern repeat measures 3.25 x 3.75". The yarns are fine which give the piece a very delicate overall look. The selvage is rather uneven.
Reproduction sample of an NMAH coverlet, 1980. Geometric pattern border that runs along selvage has a design done in medium blue floats. Middle design has a group of 16 rectangles every other one joined by short diagonal lines. At the bottom are a criss-cross design with dots en each shape and rows of diamond shaped figures. There is a section where the museum catalog number T 14896 appears as part of the design. edges are plain woven linen and hand hemmed. Warp white s twist 93 ply linen; wefts white s twist 3 ply linen; Lt. blue s twist 2 ply wool; med s twist 2 ply wool
Sample overshot coverlet reproduced after another coverlet in NMAH's collection, T14896. Made by Dr. Joyce E. Cone in 1980. White, and 2 shades of blue.
Reproduction sample of an NMAH coverlet, 1980. Pattern has rows of groups of 5 egg-like shapes alternating with W or M shaped lines, and 4 diamond shaped groups. These rows are separated by geometric, simple shapes and blocks of color. the museum catalog number ,0723.01 is woven into the design. Sample overshot coverlet reproduced after another coverlet in NMAH's collection, T14896. White and 2 shades of blue. Woven by Dr. Joyce Cone.
Fragment of a Charles Miley jacquard woven coverlet; Ohio, 1839. Single woven, white and rose colored, jacquard woven coverlet fragment, featuring sunburst and a lily pattern with bird and floral border. Inscription woven into the coverlet: "Charles Miley+ Wayne County+ Ohio+ 1839." The selvedge edge is machine hemmed.
Jacquard coverlet fragment. The ground is loosely plain woven. The design is formed by floats in the A direction; starting at the bottom there is a horizontal band of flowers. In this band the flowers are stacked above and beside each other one deep. The flowers are half-blue and half white, none being all ground or completely formed from the blue design yarn. Above this band is a bulding, supposedly St. Peter's Church, since these words appear at each side of the building (one side reads backwards). The building has a large center dome and 2 smaller domes on each side. the words appear in a straight line at the top and bottom of the building. Above the building are two areas of flowers and leaves. They are mostly blue, while smaller delicate flowers are white.
Martin B. Breneman (1803-1889) of Washington Township, York County, Pennsylvania wove this red, green, blue, and white, tied-Beiderwand coverlet in 1840. Today the coverlet exists as two panels which were woven as one length and then cut and sewn together to create the coverlet’s full width. The museum received this coverlet in two panels. Coverlets were often separated into their panels for washing and repurposing as Colonial Revival portieres or curtains. This coverlet was woven for Rachel Armitage, and her name, and that of the weaver, Martin Breneman, appear in the lower two cornerblocks along with date, 1840, and the location, Washington Twp., York County, Pennsylvania. The centerfield design features a “Double Rose and Starburst” carpet medallion pattern. The border motif is the “Eagle and Tree” pattern, which consists of eagles with the word "eagle" woven under the image. Three sides of the coverlet have an applied fringe. Martin B. Breneman (May 21, 1803-December 15, 1889) was the fourth generation of a five-generation-long, Pennsylvania weaving dynasty. He married Elizabeth Asper (July 9, 1802-November 15, 1872) around 1825. Their sons, Jacob and Adam would also work as weavers. The couple were buried in Barrens Salem Union Cemetery, Dillsburg, York Co., Pennsylvania.
Workers at the Rawlins Mill in Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware wove this overshot coverlet with center seam down and fringe along three sides. The coverlet was woven from cotton and red and blue wool yarns. DeLevan Rawlins Bowen donated this coverlet, along with 2005.0042.01 and 2005.0042.03. According to the National Register for Historic Places report, the Hearn and Rawlins Mill, as it is known today, has operated in various capacities since 1820. The building that currently stands on the site was built in 1880 and used as a grist mill. Lot Rawlins and John Morgan Rawlins, ancestors of the donor, started and owned the mill. The family moved from England to Delaware in 1747. The mill was water-powered and located along the Nanticoke River, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.
Workers at the Rawlins Mill in Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware wove this overshot coverlet with center seam down and fringe along three sides. The coverlet was woven from cotton and red and blue wool yarns. DeLevan Rawlins Bowen donated this coverlet, along with 2005.0042.01 and 2005.0042.02. According to the National Register for Historic Places report, the Hearn and Rawlins Mill, as it is known today, has operated in various capacities since 1820. The building that currently stands on the site was built in 1880 and used as a grist mill. Lot Rawlins and John Morgan Rawlins, ancestors of the donor, started and owned the mill. The family moved from England to Delaware in 1747. The mill was water-powered and located along the Nanticoke River, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. The coverlet measures 81 inches by 77 inches.
Workers at the Rawlins Mill in Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware wove this overshot coverlet with center seam down and applied fringe along three sides. The coverlet was woven from cotton and red and blue wool yarns. DeLevan Rawlins Bowen donated this coverlet, along with 2005.0042.02 and 2005.0042.03. According to the National Register for Historic Places report, the Hearn and Rawlins Mill, as it is known today, has operated in various capacities since 1820. The building that currently stands on the site was built in 1880 and used as a grist mill. Lot Rawlins and John Morgan Rawlins, ancestors of the donor, started and owned the mill. The family moved from England to Delaware in 1747. The mill was water-powered and located along the Nanticoke River, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.
Blue and white jacquard double-woven coverlet made in 1856 it has a center medallion design with flowers and birds in each corner. There is no center seam.
A "King's Flower" pattern, Overshot coverlet; attributed to Sam Gamble, of Glasgow, Kentucky. Blue and white overshot-woven, two panel, center-seamed coverlet. The coverlet is made of a 2-ply, white or unbleached, cotton for both the warp and weft and the supplementary weft float patterning was created by using blue indigo-dyed Z-spun single wool. The letters '"B S" and the date 1832, are embroidered on the coverlet in crossstitch with 2-ply, linen thread and almost certainly represent the initals of the owner, not the weaver. The coverlet has an overshot-panel fringe, which is uncommon.
John W. Heisey and Eliza Calvertt Hall both record Samuel Gamble as active in Glasgow County, Kentucky between 1830-1844. The coverlets attributed to him are of overshot construction and usually without initials or dates. The marking on this coverlet were almost certainly done by the coverlet's owner after receiving it.
Blue and white jacquard coverlet with Bird of Paradise pattern. There is a center seam sewn with cotton thread. Each panel is 36 inches wide. The coverlet is made with the Biederwand or tied weave. The date AD 1838 is woven into the corners.
Fragment of a Jacquard coverlet; woven using both single and double weaves; red and blue. [Also described as dark & light blue and pink.] Fringe on 1 side. 1. (border) rose and oak tree 2. (center) stars Inscription woven into the coverlet fragment: Made by G Nicklas/ Chamber/sburgh/Franklin County 1855. George Nicklas was born in 1820 in Germany. According to source in Ancestry.com he came to the US in 1829. He married Rebecca Miller and died January 30, 1860 in Chambersburg, PA. He willed his weaving and dyeing outfit to his nephew Peter for the sum of $200. (Charles R. NIcklas, One Hundred Years of Business on South Main Street, p191-197.)
