Counterpane, White Embroidered

Date1830

OriginAmerica, Maryland, Somerset County

MediumCotton embroidery threads and linen hemming threads on a cotton ground

DimensionsOverall: 259.1 x 228.6cm (102 x 90in.)

Credit LineGift of Melody Smith Nelson and Frederick Wright Nelson, Jr. in memory of Ralph and Dorothy Warwick Smith

Object number2015.609.9

DescriptionThis is a rectangular white counterpane worked with heavy cottons in embroidery and raised and sculpted tufting, a technique sometimes known as “candlewicking.” Three 28-inch wide 2:1 twill-woven cotton panels are butted and stitched together lengthwise to form the ground. Most of the decoration is tufted, with smaller areas of conventional embroidery. A center circle forms a sun with rays of spade shapes, surrounded by 8-pointed stars. Double leafy springs, resembling laurel, are positioned at top and bottom of inner field. Four pineapples angle in from the inner corners. A wide outer border decorates all four sides and consists of an undulating vine with tri-lobed leaves and circles, possibly representing grapes. Scallops form the outermost borders. Separate tied fringe, probably handmade, is applied along the two sides and bottom. Stitched in the top right corner is the date, “OCT 14TH 1830", which is followed by a comma shape or small 9. The counterpane is hemmed with narrow rolled hem using linen thread.
Label TextThis bed coverlet is embroidered in heavy white cotton threads in a variety of decorative stitches. This technique is sometimes known as candlewicking from the thread's resemblance to the white wicks of candles. The bedcover has a history of ownership in Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland.

Inscribed“OCT 14TH 1830"
ProvenanceMelody Smith Nelson donated this counterpane to Colonial Williamsburg in 2015. Ms. Nelson's mother, Dorothy Elizabeth Warwick purchased the counterpane from a local collector named Ms. Irma Reading who claimed that the counterpane was made from cotton grown on Mt. Pleasant Plantation in Somerset County, Maryland. The donor's maternal grandfather, John Lewis Warwick, purchased Mt. Pleasant from a man named Ballard Miles in the 1920s.