Transcript Coverlets - University of Alabama

American Coverlets
CTD 415: History of Textile Design
Dr. Virginia S. Wimberley
Definition of a Coverlet
Woven Bedspread
 Usually made of wool and cotton
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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
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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
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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
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Professional male weavers
gradually put an end to home
weaving industry for coverlets.
Origins of Professional Weavers
in U.S.
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Attracted by
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promise of ample employment
political stability
Country of origin
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England
Ireland
Scotland
France
Germany
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
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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
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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
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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

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

Jacquard Attachment
Allowed the more efficient use of large
numbers of harnesses
 Most looms were fully or partially
mechanized
 As many as 40 harnesses
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Coverlet Types
Overshot Coverlets
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Four harness loom
Among earliest
American woven
bedcovers
Warp yarns of natural,
undyed cottonstrength
Weft of dyed woolwarmth
Overshot Coverlets
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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
Overshot Coverlets
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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
Overshot Coverlets
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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
Double Weave Coverlets
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Made on Handlooms
Made on fully or
partially mechanized
looms
As early as 1725
Surviving examples
from 1800-1900
Double Weave
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Name - the use of two
sets of warp and two
sets of wefts,
simultaneously
Produces two separate
layers of cloth that are
interwoven at predetermined intervals
layers can be pulled
apart within design
Double Weave
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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
Summer and Winter
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Originated in PA
Early 1800s
Created by
professional weavers
from Germany
Five or more
harnesses
Summer and Winter
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Similar to Overshot coverlets
Differs in that supplementary weft never goes over
more than 3 warp threads at a time
Summer and Winter
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Name refers to the fact that the pattern is reversed
on the other side
Lighter side - summer; darker -winter
Jacquard Coverlets
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Loom with special
mechanical devise
Introduced by French
weaver Joseph
Jacquard in 1801
Brought to America in
the 1820s
Attachment speeded
production
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
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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
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Jacquard Coverlets
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Complicated
curvilinear patterns
Elaborate borders
Borders so distinctive
that collectors
specialize
Eagles, urns, rosettes,
buildings, trains
Jacquard Coverlet Signature
Block
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Allowed for more precise information about
origins
Handweavers could weave names but very timeconsuming and rarely attempted
Colors and Dyes
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All four types used limited color range
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Most popular indigo
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limited to natural dyes available for wool
limited to dyes available locally or by import
imported from India
derived from wild plant in Southern states
Red also popular
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imported from Asian madder root
South American cochineal
Typical Coloration with Red and
Blue
Dyes
Imported dyes sold by itinerant peddlers in
Northeast
 Later general stores throughout country
 Homemade vegetable dyes
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brown - bark of red oak or hickory
yellow - peach leaves, golden rod, black-eye
susans
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
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Weaving Mills
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Popularity of woven bedcovers encouraged
them to move into coverlet production
Example Mills
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Cockfair Mills
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Indiana
1916
carding and fulling
cotton
converted to weaving
seven employees
water powered looms
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Franklin Woolen
Factory
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Ohio
three employees
In 1850 -500 coverlets
and 1500 yards of
carpet
valued at $3700
Mill Signature Blocks
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Devised their own
signature block or
trademark
Blocks included
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name of factory
maker
date
Trademark linear
design or picture motif
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
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