Images(4)

Bed Rug by Rebekah Harris

Date1776 (dated)

Artist/Maker Rebekah Harris (1749-1814)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, New London

MediumHand-tufted wool pile on a linsey-woolsey ground (linen warp and wool weft)

DimensionsOW: 86" x OL: 90"

Credit LineLoan courtesy of Bell Family Properties, LLC

Object number2001-60 (L)

DescriptionThis is a rectangular bed rug with rounded bottom corners. The design consists of large gracefully formed leaves and flowers in vegetable-dyed shades of gold, russet, blue, and dark blue-green with natural background tufting. Flowers, leaves, and vines sprout from a two-handled container in the center of the rug. Some portions of the design are made of cut pile, but most of the design and background is uncut pile. The design follows the contour of the rounded bottom corners. The bed rug is signed and dated in the center top, "R H / 1776".
Technique: The tufted pile was created by using 7-10 strands of wool yarn, pulled through the background material with a large needle, in loose, 1/2"-5/8" running stitches. The stitches are long, loose floats on the surface and short (approximately 3/8") on the backside, which cover the entire background fabric of linsey-woolsey. Most of the stitches were left uncut, but some are cut.
Label TextThis beautiful example of eighteenth-century American needlework was created by Rebekah Harris of New London, Connecticut, who married Lieutenant Joseph Hale of Coventry, Connecticut. Family history states that Joseph was the brother of Nathan Hale, the young martyr spy who was captured and hanged by the British during the American Revolutionary War and is traditionally held to have gone to his death expressing his regret that he had but one life to give for his country.

In the eighteenth century, the word rug denoted a coarse, nappy cover for a bed. Embroidered rugs, such as this one, were made in or near the Connecticut River Valley throughout the century. Bold floral patterns were typical of these bed rugs, which were usually embroidered in richly colored, multi-plied wool yarns on wool blanketing.

Rebekah Harris worked tightly-spun, loosely plied wool yarns of seven to ten strands each into a plain-woven blanket fabric of linen and wool. This linsey-woolsey ground is entirely covered by the loops of the embroidery, with the vegetable-dyed colors of the floral design contrasted with the natural color of the undyed wool used for the background.
MarkingsInitials "R H" and the date "1776"
ProvenanceMrs. Melinda Rockwood Kendrew wrote in 1966:
"The coverlet was made by Rebekah Harris of New London, Connecticut as substantiated by the letters RH and the date 1776 at the top of the rug. Rebekah married Lieutenant Joseph Hale, the brother of Nathan Hale, the martyr spy, and they went to live in Coventry, Connecticut. In 1799 her daughter, also named Rebekah, married Ezra Abbot of Wilton, New Hampshire. Their daughter, Abby Ann Abbot, is the great, great grandmother of Nancy Hale Kendrew (Mrs. Herbert E. Bell), the present owner [and original lender to Colonial Williamsburg] and the coverlet has been carefully treasured, preserved, and occasionally exhibited down through the generations of the family. The last owner before Mrs. Bell was Mrs. Sarah Hale Rockwood Plumer who lived in a Victorian house in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Lacking sufficient wall space to properly exhibit the rug annually to the Massachusetts Historical Society and others, she had it so fixed by means of heavy tape, brass rings, and brass rod that it could be hung on the outside wall of her house. A photograph made by her husband, Charles Avery Plumer, shows the coverlet displayed in this fashion, with woodbine growing on the granite foundation of the house, showing beneath the rug."

History of maker:
Rebekah Harris was born April 16, 1749, to William and Bridget Turner Harris of New London, Connecticut (Find A Grame Memorial #50235861). (Although one source identifies her father as Judge Joseph Harris of New London. Marshall, BED RUGS) On October 21, 1778, she married Joseph Hale (1750-1784), third son of Deacon Richard and Elizabeth Strong Hale of Coventry, Connecticut, and a brother of Nathan Hale, the patriot.The couple settled in Coventry. Conflicting records indicate that they either had one child, Mary Hale Nelson (1783-1851) (Find A Grave Memorial #50235861) or four surviving daughters, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Polly, and Sally (Marshall, BED RUGS). Rebekah was married for the second time about 1787, to Thomas Abell of Franklin, Connecticut. She died March 1814, at the age of 65 and was buried at Plains Cemetery in New London County, Connecticut.