Charles Fehr coverlet; Jacquard, Beiderwand; Pennsylvania; 1845
date: label: Date made
content: 1845
name: label: weaver
content: Fehr, Charles
notes: label: Description
content: Charles Fehr coverlet; jacquard-woven, 4-1 tied beiderwand, single cloth. Featuring "Double Large Leaf" carpet medallions, double flower border flanked by a thin Greek Key tracery and Double Helix tracery, and incribled corner blocks; wool and cotton; Emmaus, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania; 1845. Jacquard, red, white, blue & green single cloth 4-1 tied beiderwand structure, fringe on 3 sides. 1. (border) tracery and double flowers 2. (center) double leaf & flower tiles. The corner block contains the inscription "MADE.BY./C.FEHR./IN.EMAUS/FOR./1845." There seems to be a space left for the insertion of a customer name. Perhaps Charles Fehr wove this coverlet for his own household? Not much is known about Charles Fehr's life dates. His brothers Thomas born c. 1815 and Abraham born c. 1822 were also weavers with similar corner block organization. The Fehr brothers paired up with one another and with another weaver, last name Keck. With more research, NMAH was able to determine that these brothers and a neighbor, Daniel Keck were among the very first congregants for a newly organized Christian demonimation based on German Methodism and pietism called the Evangleical Association, which was formed in Charles house in 1839. This group was persecuted by the local Moravian and Lutheran communities. Newspaper accounts recall rotten eggs being hurled into Charles' house at one such meeting. The proxmintiy and similar religious inclinations of Charles Fehr and Daniel Keck have led curatorial staff at NMAH to attribute the previously unknown Mr. Keck and Mr. Fehr of Fehr and Keck weavers to Charles and Daniel. Charles was an active weaver with dated coverlets from 1836-1845. Fehr and Keck have extant coverlets dated 1842-1848. These overlapping dates suggest an interesting business dynamic taking place in Lehigh County where weavers entered into partnerships but still wove under their own names at times. More research is needed to determine which Charles Fehr is the correct one. There are no less than five in the area during the appropriate timeframe.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Coverlets
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T9124
label: catalog number
content: T09124.000
label: accession number
content: 169760
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coverlet, figured
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: jacquard (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: tied-beiderwand, single weave (overall production method/technique)
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: wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 91 1/4 in x 78 1/4 in; 231.775 cm x 198.755 cm