Early 19th century shirred, embroidered, and appliqued table cover, New England, cotton, wool, and felt, ca.1835-1840.  This oval table cover has an outer border of brown and black squares of shirred fabric, separated by red and white stripes, and punctuated with red and white dots.  The next section has embroidered undulating vines and appliqued berries and leaves on a brown cotton ground.  The center oval contains an array of appliqued figures: a man sitting on a stool with a jumping dog, a large seated cat, a pig, two guinea fowl, two turkeys, and a guinea fowl in a tree.  

 

An extraordinary and well-preserved example of the creativity and techniques of textile design in the 1835-1840 period.  Dimensions:  height 25” x width 39”. 

 

Provenance:  Leslie and Peter Warwick; Grace and Elliot Snyder.  Literature:  “Living with antiques: An Americana collection in New Jersey,” Magazine Antiques (April 2005), 94-105; Leslie and Peter Warwick, Love at First Sight: Discovering Stories About Folk Art & Antiques Collected by Two Generations & Three Families, (New Jersey: 2022), p. 7, fig. 10.