Woven Doublecloth Coverlet in "Lilies of France" Pattern

Date1835 (dated)

Artist/Maker Bartlett French (1798-after 1859)

OriginAmerica, New York, Oneida County, Waterville

MediumWool and cotton

DimensionsL/H: 82" no fringe. W: 74" no fringe (208.3 cm. x 188.0 cm.)

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Foster McCarl, Jr.

Object number1973.609.9

DescriptionThis is a rectangular figured and fancy coverlet woven in dark blue wool and natural cotton in a double weave technique. The coverlet consists of two center-seamed panels.
The centerfield design is a variation of the "Double Lilies" pattern, and is sometimes called "Frenchman's Fancy." The coverlet is laid out on a diagonal grid with the primary motif of four lilies surrounded by a wreath of flowers and small fill-in motifs of eight-pointed stars. Paired lions form side and foot borders; on the sides these motifs are separated by a "tree" (at the lions' rears) and a "post" (at the lions' heads), but only the "post" separates the animals in the foot border. The side and foot borders include an outer- most edging of cross-hatching.
Woven into each lower corner block is "OLIVE/ PALMER./ 1835./ B./ French/ Weaver/ Water/Ville."
Label TextThis coverlet is another example of a lion coverlet not woven by the well-known Henry Tyler. Bartlett French repeated the animal in several of his borders sometimes superimposing the word "lion" over it, while Harry Tyler (1801-ca. 1858) employed a different version as his trademark corner block. The two men may have been related by marriage.
InscribedWoven into each lower corner block is "OLIVE/ PALMER./ 1835./ B./ FRENCH/ WEAVER/ WATER/ VILLE."
MarkingsWoven into each lower corner block is "OLIVE/ PALMER./ 1835./ B./ FRENCH/ WEAVER/ WATER/ VILLE."
ProvenanceNo provenance prior to donation of coverlet by Mr. and Mrs. Foster McCarl, Jr. is known.

History of weaver:
The weaver Bartlett French was born June 10, 1798, to Lemuel and Sarah P. Luce French in Hardwick (Worcester County), Massachusetts. An "L. French" listed in the 1810 census for Oneida County, New York, may have been Bartlett's father. Little additional biographical information has been found to date.

No death date is known for Bartlett French, but Shaeffer, Partridge, and Adrosko, p. 67, says "he appears to have been actively weaving from 1835-1860..."