Figured and Fancy coverlet; double-cloth; 1839; New York
date: label: date made
content: 1839
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Coverlets
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. Edwin B. Erikson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T17176
label: catalog number
content: T17176
label: accession number
content: 313384
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coverlet
label: Object Name
content: coverlet, figured
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton, wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: double cloth (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: Figured and Fancy (overall style)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 86 in x 80 in; 218.44 cm x 203.2 cm