Saxon Plantation overshot coverlet, Laurens, SC, late 19th century?
date: label: date made
content: After 1856
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: According to the donor, this overshot, black, white, and purple coverlet was woven by enslaved weavers on her family’s plantation, Saxon Plantation in Laurens, South Carolina. The donor recalled that her mother, who was born in 1898, had visited the plantation as a child. Further research has cast doubt on this family memory. The coverlet was woven in three panels, each measuring 25 inches wide and 96 inches long. The entire coverlet measures 96 inches by 75 inches. Each section is sewn together by hand with a yarn that appears heavier than the warp and of slightly darker color. The top and bottom hems are rolled under and stitched by hand with sewing thread. This coverlet was probably woven on a 4-shaft loom. There is an all-over pattern consisting of circular shapes and tables; each design possessing its own color which accentuates the pattern breaks. The pattern repeat is 2.5 inches, and the yarn count is 36 ends per inch by 18 shots per inch. The pattern itself closely resembles a wheel variation found in Atwater's Shuttle Craft Book of American Hand-Weaving. Further research suggests that the coverlet was actually woven after the Civil War, in a small weaving concern operated by Mack and Caroline Saxon, emancipated slaves who purchased land, eventually owning several hundred acres, and establishing a thriving community of workshops, in Laurens, SC. The purple yarn has been tested and is an aniline dye, not invented until 1856 and not in general use, especially outside industrial areas, until after the Civil War.
label: Description
content: In his book, Black Blue Bloods: Legacy of an African-American Plantation Owner, Christopher Emil Williams tells the story of Mack Saxon (1843-1915) and his wife, Caroline Saxon (1845-1910). According to Williams, Mack and Caroline were, “freed slaves who owned a 575-acre plantation in the 1800s, off what is now Interstate 385, between Greenville and Laurens counties. Mack Saxon, he says, bought additional land in Laurens, Greenville and Mauldin, bringing his land total up to about 700 acres.” Mack and Caroline not only bought land, they created jobs for friends and relatives. It is therefore likely that rather than being woven by an enslaved weaver; this coverlet was woven by a emancipated weaver.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: South Carolina, Laurens
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Coverlets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Laura S. Hemenway
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0289.01
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0289.01
label: accession number
content: 1986.0289
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coverlet, overshot
label: Object Type
content: coverlets
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: overshot (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: natural (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: purple (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 96 in x 75 1/2 in; 243.84 cm x 191.77 cm