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/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.
Related Collections::
Finnish-American Rag Rug Collection
International
Textile Collection
Michigan League of Handweavers History Project
Collection
Navajo Rug Collection
Quilt Collections
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.
--compiled by Lynne Swanson and Mary Worrall, 2005.
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