Bed Rug | Yale University Art Gallery

probably 1772

Not on view

Few more truly native or more harmoniously colorful textiles can be found than the bed rugs of New England; only crewelwork using imported worsted yarns is more beautiful. Bed rugs worked in running stitches on woolen blankets can have a cut pile, as here, or the loops can be left uncut. Many examples dating as early as 1722 and as late as 1833 have similar leafy winding borders interspersed with flowers and a flowering tree or vase of flowers in the center. The initials "DB" between two X's are thought to be those of Deborah Loomis after her marriage in 1771 or 1772 to Ariel Brace of Torrington, Connecticut.

Medium: Hand-spun wool
Dimensions: 87 × 86 in. (221 × 218.4 cm)
Credit Line: Mabel Brady Garvan Collection
Accession Number: 1934.378
Geography: Made in Torrington, Connecticut
Culture: American
Period: 18th century
Classification: Textiles
Disclaimer: Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Deborah Loomis Brace; by descent to Lois A. Marshall (1867–1960), Hartford, Conn., by purchase to Francis P. Garvan, New YOrk, 1934, by gift to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1934

Bibliography

American Art: Selections from the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2023), 60–61, no. 11, ill

Elise K. Kenney, ed., Handbook of the Collections: Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 127, ill

Florence Mellows Montgomery, "Ceramics, Glass, and Textiles at Yale," Antiques 117, no. 6 (June 1980), 1331, pl. 4, ill

Mabel Roberts Moore, "Hooked Coverlets of Artistic Merit Made in 18th Century," American Collector 2, no. 10 (1934), 1, 6, ill

Object copyright

No Copyright - United States

Additional information

Object/Work type

bed rugs

Subject

Women makers

Marks

Signed below vase: "D.B."

Technical metadata and APIs

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