Woven Doublecloth Coverlet

Date1849

Artist/Maker James Van Ness (ca. 1816-?)

MediumWool and cotton

DimensionsBlue side up: 87 3/4" X 79 1/4" (222.9 x 201.3 cm.).

Credit LineGift of Doris Baker

Object number1990.609.1

DescriptionThis is a doublecloth woven seamless coverlet with large floral medallion at center of field and small scattered floral sprays. Large-scale twining floral vine and sprays form inner borders with a smaller, tightly-twined flower and leaf design forming outer. The inscription on bottom edge of coverlet reads forward and backwards: "Ann E Smith WOVEN AT PALMYRA N.Y. BY J. VAN NESS." The date "1849" appears above outer border in each of the four corners.

Label TextBy the middle of the nineteenth century, coverlet patterns often featured large central floral medallions as seen in this example, or, alternatively, a field of repetitive geometric tile-like motifs. Both illustrate the prevailing Victorian taste for filling space.

This handsome bedcover was woven for the donor's great-grandmother, Ann Eliza Smith.
InscribedThe inscription on bottom edge of coverlet reads forward and backwards: "Ann E Smith WOVEN AT PALMYRA N.Y. BY J. VAN NESS." The date "1849" appears above outer border in each of the four corners.

ProvenanceCoverlet was woven for the donor's great-grandmother, Ann Eliza Smith, who lived in an unidentified New York state locale. In 1856 she married Alonzo Baker (b.1829); they met in Michigan and lived in that state in Burns Township, Shiawassee Co. She was buried in Michigan near Bancroft, a village between Lansing and Flint. Ann and Alonzo's son Charles also had a son named Charles; the last-named was the father of AARFAM's donor.