Coverlet or Bed Counterpane with wool embroidery

Dateca. 1800

Artist/Maker Mary Briggs Cornell

OriginAmerica, New York, Rensselaer County

MediumLinen ground; wool and cotton embroidery; cotton fringe; linen sewing thread

DimensionsW 78 X H 84" (excluding fringe) (198.1 x 213.4 cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1985-206

DescriptionThis is a bedcover of white overshot linen woven in a geometric pattern embroidered in two shades of blue wool and white cotton. The embroidery consists of six undulating vines running lengthwise on the textile, each with abstract flowers and leaves springing from the vine. Cotton fringe is stitched to sides and bottom. The linen ground consists of two loom widths of overshot structure butt-joined at the center with white linen thread. The top edge was secured with buttonhole stitching in white linen thread.
Label TextThe vertical strip format of this embroidered bedcover is not as typical as a central block with borders or a repetitive all-over design, but the effect is a pleasing one. The variety of the embroidered motifs is another notable feature of the cover: conscious effort seems to have been made to individualize the stylized floral and foliage designs.
Mary Briggs married Thomas Cornell at an unknown date. She was buried in Elmwood Cemetery at Schagticoke, New York, but no further information has been recorded about this talented embroiderer.
ProvenanceFrom the maker to her daughter, Mrs. Ira Gifford (Susannah Cornell) (1792-1879); to her daughter Mrs. George Haner (Jane S. Gifford) (1836-1909); to her daughter Mrs. Elisha Sanders Baucus (Katherine Haner) (1861-1929); to her daughter Mrs. Gardner Darling Perry (Helen M. Baucus) (1895-1985); to her son Gardner Haner Perry, Madison, Conn.