Cooper is curator-in-charge of the Textiles Division, National Museum of History and Technology. A daughter, Phebe Esther, born to his first wife, made one of the two samples (Figure 10). Therefore, the twist direction is one more characteristic in identifying a textile.
In the thread count, the first number refers to the warp threads and the second to the weft threads in one square inch of the textile in question.
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Stippling on the white stripe is in red; thread count linen warp 40 (Z-twist) and cotton weft 28 (S-twist); possibly American from the 1780s. Cotton, (Figure 5) block printed in an Indian mound design in yellow, red and green on a white ground; thread count 54 (Z-twist) and 52 (S-twist); probably French from the 1780s. Quilted Dressing Table Cover (Figure 7), 3 3 ^ x 20} 4 inches; cotton top, thread count 92 x 74, both single ply Z-twist yarn; cotton lining, thread count 42 by 37 single ply Z-twist yarn; quilted with two-layer S-twist cotton thread.
Colorful silk embroidery with tent stitch, bud and corner cross stitch on a linen ground, thread count.
Bordered on four sides with double-layer linen thread in the shape of the letter S; brushed cloth probably imported, apron probably made and embroidered in the third quarter of the 18th century. Muslin (Fig. 21), probably the original skirt of the dress, but with holes and tears which would result from its later use as a window curtain, 3 5 ^ inches long by 100 inches wide, two widths of cloth, quilted across; smooth bonded transparent cotton,. White on white embroidery, flowers and other motifs in double layer cotton chain stitch, tiny dots double layer linen satin stitch, inner serrated border double layer cotton chain stitch, outer serrated border double layer linen buttonhole stitch, serrated border in two -layer cotton chain stitch with double layers linen crescents and dots.
BED FURNITURE
Even the fiber content of the fabric or thread only gives a limiting date in one direction. With the fair number in the Copp collection, it was hoped that some positive evidence would emerge from the technical examination of the thirty sheets and seventeen pillowcases. An early nineteenth-century writer suggests at least half a dozen ways to mark bedding.
B C place the figure at the bottom and center, so [Most Copp sheets and pillowcases are marked in this style, with and without the numbers.]. All but one of the sheets are sewn in the center with two-ply or 2/2-ply linen thread. They are made of the same fine linen, but of still finer quality than the others, and are embroidered with the same blue linen thread.
There are a number of unused lengths of linen (Figure 29), of the type used for sheets and pillowcases. The initials M C are embroidered in yellow-brown silk; probably made in the late eighteenth century by one of the M Copp ladies. It is said to have been made about 1750, certainly at least in the late eighteenth century, by one of the Mrs M Copp.
The initials M C are embroidered in brown silk, probably late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, by one of the M Copp ladies. 1 and M C have interesting variations that suggest they were not of the same date. Towel (not illustrated), 36 x 20% { inches, linen, twill weave in a large diamond pattern, thread count 43 x 40; sheathed with two-ply S-twist linen thread, the width from edge to edge of the woven fabric is 36 inch dimension; embroidered initials C P in light tan and orange brown silk.
The next two towels are of the same type; probably made in the nineteenth century.
COVERLETS AND RUG
Fringe (in the middle row in figure 43), 5 inches deep, over thirty yards in nine pieces; same as above but sewn to a narrow band prewoven from single ply Z-twist linen yarn. Fringes (in the lower row in figure 43), 3 inches deep, twenty-five yards in four pieces; simple net fringe with five rows of knots, attached to the anchored string; single ply Z-twist cotton yarn used in multiples as a single unit; last row attached to tassels with extra cut loops to make the tassels full. Fringe (top of Figure 44), 5 inches deep, approx. ten yards in one piece; simple net fringe with twenty-one rows of knots looped around the anchor line; two-ply S-twist cotton yarn used in pairs for the mesh; finished with lengths of tufted ends of two-ply linen yarn used in pairs to which short lengths of cotton yarn are tied to give a chenille effect.
Finished with a 5-inch knotted self-edge of base yarn, at bottom end only; two pieces of bedspread, sewn with double linen thread in the shape of the letter S. Woven in two parts, 43 inches wide; thread count 21 x 20; base yarn double-ply S-twisted wool in gold and reddish pink, weft yarn made of double-ply S-twisted wool in brown; a small diamond pattern created by the multi-colored threads in the warp and weft while the whole is set. Both pieces of the quilt are sewn with double-ply linen thread in the shape of the letter S, which was also used for the finished edges.
Woven in two sections each 42 inches wide; thread count 24 by 48; warp yarns two-layer S-twist cotton, weft yarns for the plain or tabby parts single-layer Z-twist cotton, for the pattern parts two-layer S-twist olive green and garnet wool; woven in a wheel pattern similar to. 34;World's Wonder. consists of orange-red loops of single-layer Z-twist wool; the fringe is stitched to the bedspread with dark brown two-layer S-twist wool, while the center seam and hems are stitched with two-layer S-twist cotton. table pattern; finished with a 2^-inch hand-woven two-tone blue cut fringe; the two colors of wool are the same as the pattern weft and used in alternating 2.^-inch sections; the stitching of the seams, hems and fringes are two-ply S-twist cotton.
28 Although two-ply cotton strong enough to be used as a warp was produced in the late eighteenth century, it is likely that most quilts with a cotton warp date from the nineteenth century. The rug is irregular in shape and consists of four widths of carpeting, probably stitched to fit a specific room; the length at its longest point is 26 feet 1\4 inches; thread count is 13 by 8; warp yarns in yellow, red and green from two-layer S-twist wool;
IMPORTED FABRICS
This rug, probably woven in the early nineteenth century, is another example of excellent craftsmanship. Both before and after the American Revolution, imported fabrics, including cotton, were in general use in this country. Certain types of goods, such as fine worsteds, silk fabrics, and almost all cottons, can be identified as imported goods, since little or none of these textiles were manufactured here in the eighteenth century.
34; Check stockings of linen and cotton," though imported, may have been made in eighteenth-century America; therefore, it is extremely difficult to know which articles of this description were, in fact, of domestic manufacture and which foreign. next chapter, more details will be given about the textile production that was being done in America - at home, in the mill, and by professional craftsmen - to provide some limited. , glazed wool fabric in quilted panel , many chintzes, calicoes and muslins in quilts, there are three other domestic fabrics of foreign manufacture in the Copp collection.
34; bought in New York in Although the production of dimittia originates from the East, they were produced in France as early as the late sixteenth century.34 After the invention of spinning machines in England in the second half of the eighteenth century, many types of cotton.
A later development was the professional weaver (Figure 61), who along with other specialized craftsmen became part of the American scene. This eighteenth-century European fulling mill would not be technically different from an American one of the seventeenth century. 34;Silk manufacture." One of the more common trades was concerned with silk that had already been used.
England saw several important textile inventions in the middle years of the eighteenth century, which were to have a significant impact on the production of cloth in the newly formed United States of America. The fibers were thus pulled out faster than they were fed in, which reduced the diameter of the roving. The twist was made using a U-shaped flyer with a free-running spindle, such as a wheel of linen cloth.
My incentive is pretty good, but I'd rather have to worry about the constant meowing and purring. One hundred and eighteen Copp household textiles were wet cleaned in the Textile Laboratory. The 18th century quilt (Fig. 46) in the Copp Collection is in very good condition and is an example of one of the simpler methods of preparation for exhibition.
The muslin tube is made of thirteen-centimeter-wide muslin, the length of which is the same as the width of the bedspread. Another row of stitches is inserted at the bottom of the upper edge of the lining. Either the lining strips or the entire lining are sewn where necessary and then sewn to the flannel cover of the frame.
Memoirs of Samuel Slater, with a history of the rise and progress of the cotton manufacture in England and America.
