American Coverlets

1. American Coverlets CTD 415: History of Textile Design Dr. Virginia S. Wimberley

2. Definition of a Coverlet • Woven Bedspread • Usually made of wool and cotton

3. Woven Fabric • Composed of warp and weft yarns • Warp yarns remains stationary and run vertically • Weft yarns are woven horizontally, back and forth through the warp

4. Looms • Simplest - one harness [ device through which the warp yarns are threaded] • Colonial home loom - two to four harnesses • Harnesses connected to treadles which raise or lower them

5. Earliest Coverlets • Woven on two harness hand looms • Four harness hand looms soon replaced the two harness • Loom set up in common room of the home or in a loom shed, separate from the main dwelling; usually women were weavers • Woven in two sections, each 30 to 50 inches in length, then sewn together

6. Professional Weavers Professional male weavers gradually put an end to home weaving industry for coverlets.

7. Origins of Professional Weavers in U.S. • Attracted by • promise of ample employment • political stability • Country of origin • England • Ireland • Scotland • France • Germany

8. Professional Weavers • Many settled in the Northeast and Midwest • Many led an itinerant life, traveling from town to town in quest of clients in need of his services

9. Professional Weavers • Used 6 to 8 harness looms • Usually assisted by two apprentices or assistants • Most weavers used patterns that showed how to thread the loom • Most patterns resulted in geometric designs

10. Professional Weavers • Upon arrival in a new location, he would advertise in the local newspaper • Set up loom wherever he could find lodging • Client would select a pattern from the weaver’s book • Weaver would weave the coverlet with slight variations

11. Professional Weavers • Some weavers would establish themselves in a permanent location where the population was sufficient size to support a weaver on a regular basis • Often permanent shop weavers would also weave custom order carpets

12. Jacquard Attachment • 1820s saw the introduction of the Jacquard attachment which made curvilinear designs possible • Attachment controlled the movements of the harnesses • Consisted of punched cards • Accomplished weavers create own designs by punching new cards

13. Jacquard Attachment • Allowed the more efficient use of large numbers of harnesses • Most looms were fully or partially mechanized • As many as 40 harnesses

14. Coverlet Types

15. Overshot Coverlets • Four harness loom • Among earliest American woven bedcovers • Warp yarns of natural, undyed cotton-strength • Weft of dyed wool-warmth

16. Overshot Coverlets • Name comes from the weaving technique • Horizontal/weft yarns are allowed to skip or “overshoot” three or more vertical/warp yarns at a time • Thick but loosely woven appearance

17. Overshot Coverlets • Surface floats tend to abrade and wear out easily • Patterns usually combine stripes, squares and diamonds, using a “floating” weft of colored yarn over plain background

18. Overshot Coverlets • Coverlets were always made of two pieces and seamed through the middle • In the South, the belief was that an uneven seam would turn away evils spirits and insure good luck for the user of the coverlet

19. Double Weave Coverlets • Made on Handlooms • Made on fully or partially mechanized looms • As early as 1725 • Surviving examples from 1800-1900

20. Double Weave • Name - the use of two sets of warp and two sets of wefts, simultaneously • Produces two separate layers of cloth that are interwoven at pre-determined intervals • layers can be pulled apart within design

21. Double Weave • Pattern is repeated on the other side, usually in a lighter color • This type is confused with Summer and Winter coverlets due to reversability but they are a single layer

22. Summer and Winter • Originated in PA • Early 1800s • Created by professional weavers from Germany • Five or more harnesses

23. Summer and Winter • Similar to Overshot coverlets • Differs in that supplementary weft never goes over more than 3 warp threads at a time

24. Summer and Winter • Name refers to the fact that the pattern is reversed on the other side • Lighter side - summer; darker -winter

25. Jacquard Coverlets • Loom with special mechanical devise • Introduced by French weaver Joseph Jacquard in 1801 • Brought to America in the 1820s • Attachment speeded production

26. Jacquard Attachment • Attachment organized warp and weft threads according to holes on a series of cards • Cards activated the loom and dictated the pattern • Could be added to existing looms to make Double Weave coverlets

27. Jacquard Attachment and Design • Possible to create unseamed coverlets • Coverlets with complicated curvilinear patterns and elaborate borders • Border designs with trains, eagles, buildings, urns • Weaver in one corner included his name, name of destined owner, and town, state and date of weaving

28. Jacquard Coverlets • Complicated curvilinear patterns • Elaborate borders • Borders so distinctive that collectors specialize • Eagles, urns, rosettes, buildings, trains

29. Jacquard Coverlet Signature Block • Allowed for more precise information about origins • Handweavers could weave names but very time-consuming and rarely attempted

30. Colors and Dyes • All four types used limited color range • limited to natural dyes available for wool • limited to dyes available locally or by import • Most popular indigo • imported from India • derived from wild plant in Southern states • Red also popular • imported from Asian madder root • South American cochineal

31. Typical Coloration with Red and Blue

32. Dyes • Imported dyes sold by itinerant peddlers in Northeast • Later general stores throughout country • Homemade vegetable dyes • brown - bark of red oak or hickory • yellow - peach leaves, golden rod, black-eye susans

33. Weaving Mills • By mid 19th C. coverlets produced in weaving mills on fully mechanized looms • Most located in industrial Northeast and parts of Midwest • Size varied but usually several weavers banding together • Initially factories specialized in textile materials and carpets

34. Weaving Mills • Popularity of woven bedcovers encouraged them to move into coverlet production

35. Cockfair Mills Indiana 1916 carding and fulling cotton converted to weaving seven employees water powered looms Franklin Woolen Factory Ohio three employees In 1850 -500 coverlets and 1500 yards of carpet valued at $3700 Example Mills

36. Mill Signature Blocks • Devised their own signature block or trademark • Blocks included • name of factory • maker • date • Trademark linear design or picture motif

37. Demise of the Industry • During the Civil War, most factories converted to blankets • Hand weaving never recovered from the war era • Parts of Appalachia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois kept the tradition to limited extent • 1876 Philadelphia Centennial inspired brief revival