1838 Bigelow's Patent Model of a Loom
date: label: model constructed
content: before 1838-01-06
label: patent date
content: 1838-01-06
name: label: inventor
content: Bigelow, Erastus Brigham
notes: label: Description
content: Loom for Weaving Knotted Counterpanes Patent Model
label: Description
content: Patent No. 546, issued January 6, 1838
label: Description
content: Erastus B. Bigelow of West Boylston, Massachusetts
label: Description
content: Erastus B. Bigelow primarily claimed the mechanism that raised the knots that formed the figures or patterns on the counterpane. His patent specification was lengthy, five pages of drawings and nine pages of written specifications.
label: Description
content: In 1840, the editor of the Journal of the Franklin Institute wrote, “. . . the goods produced in this loom are of a quality very superior to such as are produced in the hand loom; at all events we have not met with any thing of the kind in the shops that will compare with them for texture, and for beauty and regularity of pattern. . . . We anticipate that at a very early day, American counterpanes will become as general as berths on board steamboats, and as beds at hotels. The articles are for sale in all our large cities, and as soon as there is a sufficient supply, will make their way into every part of the Union.”
label: Description
content: Bigelow was a prolific inventor, patenting at least 33 loom improvements. In 1842 he revolutionized carpet manufacture by a series of inventions that made the carpet loom automatic. The automatic features enabled manufacturers to replace male weavers with less costly female weavers or boys. His inventions for the power weaving of Brussels, Jacquard, Ingrain, and Wilton carpet were quite successful. Before the mid-19th century, the importance of these inventions was recognized both in the United States and in Europe.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Massachusetts, West Boylston
topic: label: classified
content: Patent Models
label: classified
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Patent Models, Textile Machinery
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content: Textiles
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content: Patent Models
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Janssen, Barbara Suit. Patent Models Index
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T11411.128
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: catalog number
content: T11411.128
label: patent number
content: 546
objectType: label: Object Name
content: loom patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (mechanisms material)