Pink and Orange Wool in a Coverlet

[Matthew Semple]

I recently came across a wool coverlet on an online auction website that has pink and orange wool woven into it. The link is provided below so you can see the seller's description and pictures.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150540449444&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is my background and main question for discussion:

Over the years, I have studied hundreds of coverlets documented and estimated to be from the 1850's through the early 1900's. The coverlet offered in this auction is from about the 1930/40's (the widespread practice of weaving coverlets for use at home had already begun to die off by this point due to the wide availability of commercial blankets on the market). I have seen colors woven into coverlets that cross the color sectrum but I have not come across orange and pink used in coverlets for the period of 1850-1880. Has anyone come across this color combination from that time period?

Your thoughts and discussion on coverlet colors for 1850-1880 is greatly appreciated.

Very respectfully,

[Beth Chamberlain]

Re: Pink and Orange Wool in a Coverlet

It's not at all a color combination I have seen in 19th century bedding. They are very common colors, singly and in combination, for cotton prints of the Great Depression.

The two volume "The Coverlet Book" by Helene Bress is the single largest source I know of for handwoven coverlet images. A quick glance at that shows the vast majority to be blue & white, then that accented with red. A minority of the coverlets are red & white, have accents or large portions of a lt red/salmon color, then a few have some shades of gold, a lighter blue, khaki(ish) green, and a few "white" (all yarns undyed).

And, I'm going to give in to the overwhelming desire to comment on the seller's statement that "looms were very narrow then". In the 1930/40's, as now, the hand powered looms available to crafter could weave no wider than @45" (most people will do less). The width of the fabric is limited by how far the shuttle can be thrown and that is about as far as a person can throw it. By the 1930's hand loomed coverlets were an anomaly - an artisan's or crafter's product - the average bedding came off of steam/water/coal powered looms are were woven in one width, as they had for many decades.

[Spinster]

Re: Pink and Orange Wool in a Coverlet

Wow. That color combo vibrates on my screen. VERY 1930's

I'll venture that this could very likely be hand loomed as oppossed to a factory produced item---IF the provenance to Quebec is also matches where the Grandmother lived. Culturally, this area operates very much as the deep Appalachians. Right up until the Second War, complicated hand loomed overshot weaving was considered a very fine gift to give or receive, especially for weddings or births. The same was true for the Acadian parts of Louisiana, where these labor-intensive hand loomeds were a significant part of a bridal trousseau.

Of the three 19th century floor looms in my home, two have a weaving width less than 30 inches, but do have at least four harnesses, and in one case, eight--thus capable of highly complex weaving but at very narrow widths. I did not collect these intentionally--they wandered in, rather like stray cats who discern where food and affection might be----or in their cases, yarn and funiture oil. Narrow looms were not uncommon, and were far more useable for small framed women----my ability to throw the shuttle distance, while keeping the tension even, does decrease as the pattern become more complicated.

While certainly there were wide looms, and fly shuttles to aid in weaving during the 19th century, not all had this sophisticated technology--for the home producer, narrow weave looms were capable of very complicated patterning, without the large weaving width of the common two harness 'barn loom'.