Images(4)

Bed Rug

Date1773

OriginAmerica, Connecticut

MediumWool yarn on a tabby-woven woolen ground

DimensionsOW 82 1/2" x OH 82 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1986-88

DescriptionThis is an almost square bed rug worked in yellow, green, blue, tan, and brown/black yarn with two rounded corners at the bottom. The textile is worked solidly in loose running stitch through a tabby-woven woolen ground. A floral design springs from a leafy source at the lower foot of the bed rug, and bold green branches flow from that point to cover the surface with green leaves and blue, yellow, and tan flowers. At center top is the date 1773 embroidered in dark brown or black. The bed rug is finished with rolled hems. The ground textile is composed of two selvage-to-selvage widths, seamed down the center.
Label TextFeaturing bold undulating stems that support giant flowers and leaves, this heavy bedcover is a masterpiece of New England textile design. Long running stitches worked through a woolen ground create the design elements. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, "bed rug" meant a heavy cover for the bed, not a floor covering.
Inscribed1773
ProvenanceTiti Halle, of Cora Ginsburg, Inc., stated in 1986 that the former owner of the bed rug was Paul Weld of Connecticut. One year earlier, on October 19, 1985, the bed rug was sold at Christie's, New York (lot 90).