1838 Humphries's Patent Model of a Carpet
date: label: model constructed
content: before 1838-12-10
label: patent date
content: 1838-12-10
name: label: inventor
content: Humphries, John
notes: label: Description
content: Carpet Patent Model
label: Description
content: Patent No. 1,028, issued December 10, 1838
label: Description
content: John Humphries of New York, New York
label: Description
content: Humphries’s innovation was the addition of a supplementary layer to the bottom of a carpet to provide an extra cushion and to strengthen the overall structure. The added stuffer weft is a stout, loosely twisted cord, woven into the underside of the carpet and interlaced with the ground warp. These samples of carpeting are important because they are the earliest known examples of patented carpeting in the United States.
label: Description
content: Whether this patent was utilized is unknown but there is evidence of Humphries being involved in the manufacture of carpeting. The Journal of the Franklin Institute lists premiums awarded at their eighth exhibition in 1833. John Humphries was presented a premium for four pieces of Brussels carpeting. The judges noted that “these goods are of excellent quality and style, and satisfactory assurances have been received that they are exclusively of American workmanship throughout all the processes from the raw material to the finished product of the loom.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: classified
content: Patent Models
label: classified
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models, Textile Machinery
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content: Textiles
label: See more items in
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.T18362
label: catalog number
content: T18362.000
label: patent number
content: 001028
label: accession number
content: 1978.2402
objectType: label: Object Name
content: carpet patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fiber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: woven (overall production method/technique)