Blankets were used from early times, including for trade with the Native Americans. The lower classes used a rough twill wool. Sometimes bear or other animal skins were used as covers and bed padding on the frontier. Among the upper classes, the blankets were a finer sort and finish. White, blue, green or red were popular colors, some woven with contrasting stripes.
A few were lavishly embroidered, such as this blanket from the Riverside, CA municipal museum display; "Quilts, Coverlets & Embroidered Blankets: Bed Covers from America's Past." The blanket is c. 1818 of hand woven brown wool twill with embroidered motifs of a central urn with flowers and floral meander, inscription: “Allis Miller, 1818 Augusta, Dec.” in gold, light brown, grey-green wool yarns. It is described as; “1 wool bed coverlet made by gt-gt-grandmother Allis (Rann) Miller-Burleigh(?).” (Donated by Mrs. Frank Miller Hutchings.) The original is very dark - I used computer enhancement to lighten the pattern enough to make it viewable.
In Nova Scotia, Canada, a few old tartan blankets have been found. While most date from a fairly recent period and were made in the province, some are quite old, and were brought over from Scotland. There are several that predate the "Tartan Revival" of 1822, and are genuine pre-1800 representations of antique "setts" (tartan patterns). The one depicted here is the Gillis-MacDonald Tartan Blanket (c. 1787), a very old piece of hard tartan brought over to Nova Scotia from Araisaig, Scotland in the 18th century by the Gillis family. The original is in exceptionally fine condition, and appears, both from its appearance and from its historic usage in the family, to have been a multi-purpose ceremonial blanket, fringed on both ends, brought out on major life occasions, such as weddings, births, christenings, deaths, etc., a tradition that was once common in Scotland, and appears to have survived into this century in Nova Scotia. The sett is a hitherto unknown variant of the MacDonald motif, reminiscent of MacDonald of Kingsburgh, another pre-Revival piece known to date from 1746. (The Kingsburgh sett was worn by Prince Charles Edward Stuart {"Bonnie Prince Charlie"} while in Kingsburgh country during his evasion of the British in 1746 after the failure of the 1745 uprising.) |
 For an interesting history of tartan by an expert researcher, see: Peter E. MacDonald ) Nova Scotia was also famous for its lovely "overshot" weaving used in coverlets, a technique brought in from Europe, which was also practiced elsewhere and Canada and in America. Overshot coverlets were typically constructed of linsey-woolsey, on four-harness looms in separate pieces and sewn together. The wool yarns of the design appear to "float" over a tabby-woven background of linen to create the design. |
The detail above is from "Governor's Garden", an overshot coverlet, c. 1850. Wool and linen, 100 x 94-3/4 inches The description says; "Mary Ann (Rose) Riley was born November 25, 1829 daughter of Rueben and Patsy (Mason) Rose of Robertson County, Tennessee. After her marriage to James A. Riley in 1846 she moved to Logan County, Kentucky to establish a home in the Olmstead community and eventually bear ten children. Mary Ann Riley died January 29, 1894 in Cumberland County." (Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, KY) |
Above is another overshot coverlet, c. 1828, from the Riverside exhibition. From the description: "Overshot, woven on a hand loom; warp: natural flax, weft: natural flax and rust, green and gold hand dyed wools. Provenance: Belonged to donor's grandmother Lydia Hayes (1808-1882); possibly it was her mother’s Lydia Wentworth (1785 -1808) or grandmother’s Phoebe Wentworth (1748-1836) Donor: R. M. Elliott" |
Above is another antique overshot bed "jacquard" (coverlet). The overshot is very well done and in a rare salmon color. This antique jacquard was found in a Haddam estate. Dates from the early to mid 19th century in America. Bed "ruggs" were also used. They date from at least the 1600s in Europe, and eventually made their way to America. In 1755, Samuel Johnson defined them as; "coarse, nappy coverlets used for mean beds". They are believed to have been knotted shag, but there are no known surviving examples. They were originally manufactured in England of lower grade wool. By the mid 1700s, they appear to have been owned by rich and poor alike, judging by inventories and other lists. American-made bed rugs became popular about the time of the Revolutionary war, perhaps because English imports were scarce and unpopular. They were made with needle and yarn on a wool backing. Some were embroidered with a running stitch left "loopy" on the top. The tufts could be cut giving a shaggy appearance. Others were flat-embroidered in a variety of darning stitches. They were generally completely covered with stitching of some sort, either in a solid color, or with decorative patterns. Examples include the "Foote Bed Rug" from Connecticut. (The name has nothing to do with part of the body - it was the family name of the owners.) It has a stylized design with leaf and floral motifs and a center of long flowering stems flowing from a vessel, which would seem to be a variation of the then-popular Tree of Life motif. (Mosaic quilts featuring this pattern and Flowers in an Urn were quite popular in this period.) Coverlets also appear in the records. They were mainly decorative pieces in upper-class homes. They were woven of wool, linen and cotton. People sometimes prepared the fibers, then paid to have them woven. |
