Description:
Wool blanket made from a twill-woven (possibly fulled) wool crape (French, crepe) embroidered with crewel wool in pink and two shades of blue. The blanket is made up of five varying widths of the wool crape (crepe), a fabric characterized by its crinkly appearance in both the warp and weft directions. That crinkled look is achived by playing with the twist tension of the yarns before or while on the loom. All but one of the seams are butt sewn together, and the other seam (a later repair) is flat felled. The embroidery design, which was originally done after the widths were joined, consists of crewel embroidered scrolling flowers and vines around three of the four edges, which is itself bordered on the outside by paisley-like designs. The field of the blanket is decorated in a spot motif of floral sprays and sunburst/stylized rose motifs. Stitches include surface, stem, satin, chain and French knots. The three embroidered edges are further decorated with feather stitching in three rows (pink, white and dark blue). Some later repairs to the blanket are visible, most notably darning holes as well as one of the seams, where the embroidery has been disrupted as a result. This blanket is an example of the kinds of crewel-embroidered bed coverings that were made and used in New England during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The fabric and crewel yarns made have been made domestically, or purchased separately from a nearby merchant, to be made into this bed covering.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Embroidery; Wool Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.300 |
