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Nineteenth Century North American Woven Coverlet Collection

The Michigan State University Museum's textile collection contains many examples of hand-woven textiles made for the home, including a collection of fifty early- to mid-19th century woven textiles made in North America for use primarily as bed coverings, but also as hanging room dividers or to cover door openings. The particular style of weaving is characterized by use of distinctive geometric or floral designs, mostly in blue and white, but often using red, brown or gold with white. It is also characterized by the use of three main weave structures: overshot weave, summer and winter weave, and double cloth or "Jacquard" weave (those woven on looms with Jacquard attachments); all three styles are represented in the collection.

The weaving style originated in Germany or England and immigrants brought the skills and equipment to America. Professional weavers took commissions for coverlets and often signed their work with their name and/or the name of the recipient.

Though most of the coverlets in the collection were made in New York, Pennsylvania or Ohio (the regions most active in coverlet weaving), three coverlets were made in Michigan. One of these is signed by known Michigan weaver Abram Van Doren and another, unsigned, woven in 1837 to commemorate Michigan's statehood, was made, according to donor information, by "Earl Bray's great-grandfather."

The earliest coverlet in the collection dates from 1833, most date from the 1840s and 1850s. The latest coverlet is documented as having been made in 1890, decades after the woven coverlet fell out of fashion, in Ontario by William Hunter.

Donors and Fieldworkers

Betty and Harlan MacDowell, Marsha MacDowell, and C. Kurt Dewhurst, Ruby Penner, Barbara Bray Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Leonardson, John David Jackson and Nan Jackson, Theron and June Hecht

Exhibitions

"Michigan Folk Art: Its Beginnings to 1941," Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan. 1976.

"Weaving History: Nineteenth Century Michigan Jacquard Coverlet Weavers," Michigan State University Museum, November 16, 1986 - March 29, 1987 (curated by Marsha MacDowell, C. Kurt Dewhurst and Claire Gonzales).

Publications

C. Kurt Dewhurst and Marsha MacDowell. "Michigan Folk Art: Its Beginnings to 1941." East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Museum, 1976.

Katharine M. Brown, "Fancy Coverlet Weaving," Michigan History, Vol. 71, No. 3, p. 12.