Inlaid Patchwork Table Cover

Date1870-1890

Attributed to Michael Zumpf

MediumWools with supplementary silk embroidery

Dimensions65 3/4" x 64 7/8" (167.0 cm. x 164.8 cm.)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1974.603.1

DescriptionThis is an almost-square wool table cover in a design of a floral vase and flowers on dark ground. The textile is worked in inlaid patchwork technique, in which swatches are pieced together by backstitching and inlaid into the background using very narrow seam allowances of less than 1/16 inch, or 1 to 2 millimeters.
Label TextThe swatches in this table cover were all pieced together and inlaid into the black background cloth, not appliqued into the latter, making the whole a remarkable feat of workmanship.

A closely related table cover in the Welsh Folk Museum, St. Fagans, Cardiff, Wales, has been identified as the work of London tailor, Michael Zumpf, who is known to have been working in London by 1875.
ProvenanceSaid to be from New York State when acquired. However, recent research shows a close relationship with a table cover made by Michael Zumpf, a London tailor. That example is housed in the Welsh Folk Museum, Cardiff.