Textiles and the Triplett Sisters

Blackburn greys was a fabric of linen weft and cotton warp that was made in the Blackburn area of Lancashire, England and primarily made in the area by weavers at home. About 1750 Robert Peel living on Hole House Farm, near Blackburn invented a wooden roller system (wooden cylinder carved in relief) which was later known as a mule machine to print on fabric. Robert Peel would give up farming to focus on calico printing. Later one of his sons would introduce the engraved copper cylinder to their firm Peel & Co. Sadly, in December 1791 their cotton works made the newspaper for a large fire. The company then called Peel, Aintworth, and Co. would recover, but needed additional capital. William Yates would provide the capital and thus the company would become known as Peel, Yates,...

Just a reminder that because of the chinoiserie medallion in a recent acquisition quilt, we are continuing to research early textile printers in England. Because the medallions, panels, and borders printed were considered furnishing prints, not a basic calico, we’ve been exploring early furnishing printers from the late 1700s and beyond. Bannister Hall and Bromley Hall are the most frequently cited textiles printers from the period, however both printers went through multiple different owners and did commission printing for furniture manufacturers. (To learn more about Bannister Hall and Bromley Hall, click on their names to read a previous blog post.) Besides William Kilburn, a leading textile designer discussed in our last blog, Richard Ovey of Covent Garden was the leading London merchant for furniture prints from 1790 to 1831. Textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum...

Continued research on the new acquisition quilts caused additional research on early English textile printing which supports earlier dates on certain printing milestones. The date of 1815 is cited frequently for designs on cotton with some complexity. However, I would argue the date should be earlier. In 1752 copper plate printing was developed in Ireland, and quickly spread to England. Prints from copper plates produce the finer details needed to create complex designs. Also of note, in 1774, parliament passed the “United Kingdom of the Realm Act” which required foreign cottons to be heavily taxed upon import into England. English printed cottons intended for export from England would be marked with “the three blue threads” and be refunded the tax in the colonies. If you have antique fabric with three blue threads in the selvedge, then...

Dr. Mason Crary name is inscribed Dr. M. Crary with an image of bloodletting tools. (It’s hard to unsee, once you see it and think of what it shows.) He was born in 1779 in Connecticut, from there the family moved to Albany, NY where he studied medicine. In 1804 he moved to Luzerne Co where he met the Nathan Beach family, the first white settlers in the area and married the daughter Desire. Nathan Beach, an attorney, was very influential in Pennsylvania serving in the legislature and various offices for the Susquehanna and Lehigh Canal as well as the turnpike. In 1814 Dr. Crary moved to Philadelphia where he practiced as a Dr. and sold his own medicine “Dr. Crary’s Anti-bilious Family Pills.” In 1824 he sold his practice to his assistant and returned to...

The Hyers are a reminder that the Machette coverlet (the earliest of this group) is less about fundraising and businesses, but more about family and neighbors. There are 10 Hyer family inscriptions, including William Jacob Hyer, who was the patriarch of the inscribers on the coverlet. William Hyer was born on December 11, 1765, in New Jersey and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1789. He married Sarah Chambers in 1796. (Note there are six Chambers family inscriptions on this coverlet and one on the DAR Fish Album Quilt. In addition, Emma Fish did marry into the Chambers family.) In 1807 William Hyer was a clerk for the Supreme Court, a position he held for 4 years before being appointed the Clerk of the Court of Chancery by the Governor. He had his own...