Hesse brothers; Figured and Fancy coverlet; tied-Beiderwand; c. 1840; Ohio
date: label: date made
content: ca. 1840
notes: label: Description
content: Vertical rows of symmetrical grape vines, addorsed doves, and carpet medallion starbursts are accented by horizontal bands of blue, gold, and red in this coverlet. The two side borders feature a double border of repeating geometric motifs and scrollwork. The bottom border depicts a variety of floral motifs, a house with two chimneys, and, rather unusually, confronted giraffes. The two cornerblocks show a trademark of four, eight-petaled flowers within a box over two more empty boxes. Those other boxes would have contained the date, maker’s name, and customer’s name, if requested. The lower edge of the coverlet has been lost completely. This coverlet is tied-Beiderwand, an integrated weave structure similar to lampas that uses a complementary binding warp to unify two separate fabrics. The warp is composed of 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton and a blue Z-spun cotton single binding warp, and the weft is made up of 3-ply, S-twist, Z-spun cotton yarn and high twist, Z-spun wool singles. This coverlet was first owned by the donor’s grandparents, Peter and Eliza Hannon Hunter (married in 1832), and family legend states that Peter bought this coverlet for his wife, Eliza at a local fair around 1840 from an “itinerant weaver.” The myth of the itinerant weaver has stuck with the American cultural memory for generations. While it is true that some weavers did travel to people’s home to weave, they did not carry their looms with them as they were cumbersome and America’s over-land transportation system was not in good working order until the middle of the twentieth century. Traveling weavers would have woven things that couldn’t be produced by the family on the family’s own loom them move on to the next farm. This is not the case with this coverlet; however, it was possibly purchased at a fair rather than custom ordered because of the lack of date and the apparent lack of names in the corner blocks. This is likely a ready-made piece of stock that was sold at the fair Peter and Eliza attended back in 1840. Although there is no signature, the patterns used, particularly that vertical centerfield arrangement and confronted giraffe border, allow us to attribute this coverlet to the work of the Hesse brothers 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Ohio
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Coverlets
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mr. Bryan Hunter
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T10095
label: catalog number
content: T10095.000
label: accession number
content: 181280
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coverlet, figured
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: tied-Beiderwand (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: "Confronted Giraffe" (border pattern)
label: Physical Description
content: "Grape Vine and Starburst" (center pattern)
label: Physical Description
content: red (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: green (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: gold (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: cotton, wool (overall material)