Counterpane, Bolton type

The 1845 edition of Webster's "Encyclopedia of Domestic Economy" described the differences between what were termed Marseilles quilts (see 11.60.329) and what were then called counterpanes:
"‘Counterpanes,’ evidently a corruption of counter-point, have little protuberances on the surface, dispersed after a certain pattern. ‘Marseilles quilts’ are a more elegant kind of bed-quilts, and lighter than common white counterpanes of cotton. This fabric is a double cloth with a third of softer material between, which is kept in its place by quilting done in the loom."
Bolton, near Manchester in Lancashire, was the English center of the home industries that produced these all-cotton bed covers. So-called Bolton coverlets, or "counterpanes," were imported to the United States in large quantities starting around the turn of the nineteenth century. The counterpanes were woven in one piece on two harness looms that were usually about nine or ten feet wide, either by two weavers sitting side by side at each loom or by a single weaver using a fly shuttle. The pattern was produced by pulling the heavy weft threads up into loops at the appropriate places. The thick cotton design wefts, which resemble candlewicking, were woven into the fabric every few rows in a set proportion (in this example 1:4) to the thinner cotton weft threads. The warp is the same weight as the finer weft threads.
The bottom edge of this type of bed cover may have looped inscriptions, which often seem to be the initials of the weaver. Sometimes there are numbers as well, usually indicating the counterpane's original width in one-quarter-yard, or nine-inch increments. Therefore, if a piece is marked "12", like one of the Museum's counterpanes (47.93), it means the piece originally measured 108 inches (or 12 times 9 inches) wide. (The piece is now about 103 inches wide, probably due to years of wear and shrinkage from washing.) After measuring several marked examples, however, it seems that few counterpanes were woven exactly to their marked width, although they usually come close. English counterpane inscriptions often also include the letters "F" or "SF" after the weaver’s initials. They may refer to the quality of the weaving. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, counterpanes and other textiles were advertised by merchants as being either "fine" or "superfine" in quality—the woven "F" or "SF" could have served as markers.
Most of the counterpanes in our collection were made in England. The serious study of this type of bed cover is relatively new, but characteristics that distinguish English counterpanes from the few known American examples are coming to light. The first important research on American counterpane weaving was done when Esther I. Schwartz discovered an example inscribed with "Rutgers Factory" woven above a spread eagle in the center and "Col. Henry Rutgers 1822" woven in the border. Although Colonel Henry Rutgers (1745-1830) was a New York City resident, Schwartz assumed that the counterpane had been woven on a power loom in the cotton factory Rutgers had founded in Paterson, New Jersey, sometime before 1822. Until Schwartz's discovery, it had been assumed that no American factories or weavers working during the early nineteenth century were skilled enough to undertake this type of intricate weaving. Schwartz backed up her supposition with research about the Rutgers factory, which was one of fifteen cotton factories operating in Paterson by 1825, with forty-four looms that employed one hundred hands and wove 5,040 yards of fabric a week. It is more likely, however, that rather than counterpanes, the products of the Rutgers factory were solely yard goods and, in light of recent research, we need to reevaluate Schwartz's assumptions. It is probable that the counterpane made for Colonel Rutgers in 1822 was individually woven by hand in a small workshop in New York City, not in his factory.

Several scholars have come to the conclusion that counterpanes were being successfully manufactured in the eastern United States by individual hand-loom weavers very early in the nineteenth century, and, in fact, some of the only documented professional female weavers were counterpane weavers. Eliza Bourne, a professional weaver who worked from her home in Kennebunk, Maine, produced numerous counterpanes for sale between 1800 and 1820, solely with the help of her large family. She owned three looms, two of them specifically for counterpane weaving, and was referred to as a "household manufacturer" by the local press. Her pieces sold for either ten or seventeen dollars each, depending on the grade of quality. Hannah Wilson of New Hampshire is another documented female counterpane weaver, producing at least 177 counterpanes to order during the period of the 1830s through the 1850s. And an advertisement in the "Baltimore Patriot" from June 11,1816, states that "The Independent Manufacturing Company, No 54 Howard-Street" can supply buyers with "Domestic Counterpanes, &c." and "have now on consignment and can be constantly supplied with Counterpanes of as elegant appearance (and a far superior texture) as any ever imported from Manchester." These counterpanes were probably made by individual home manufacturers (the independent manufacturers referred to in the company name) and then marketed and sold on consignment through the company for a fee or percentage of the price.
This counterpane has New York family provenance. It has a wonderful looped inscription that has helped us trace its origins at least in part. The inscription reads "A + Underhill + 1818 GG 12/4 SF." The counterpane was made for Alsha (alternately Alchia or Alchea) Bonnet Underhill (1795-1864) of New Rochelle, New York, a Westchester County suburb of New York City. Alsha married Peter Bonnet Underhill (1791-1868) in 1814; therefore, this counterpane was not made as a wedding gift. It could have been commissioned by Alsha from either a local weaver or one in nearby New York City, or perhaps she received it as a present. She and her husband lived in New Rochelle their entire lives, and passed the counterpane down through the family until it was left by Alsha and Peter's childless great-granddaughter Ellen Lane Underhill Bishop (1891-1985) to the child of her best friend, who in turn sold it to the Museum. There is much evidence to convince us that this coverlet was woven in the New York area, not imported from England. First of all, the English counterpanes found in American collections generally aren't inscribed with owners' names. Because most were sent over from Bolton in huge wholesale lots and marketed to smaller retail merchants who might choose a few to sell in their community, they were woven only with patterns that any buyer might find attractive. Certainly, the central spread eagle is also a good clue to the Underhill counterpane's American origins. While the initials GG in the inscription belong to a yet unidentified weaver, the New-York Historical Society has in its collection a counterpane similar to ours that has also been signed by GG. That piece is also inscribed in looping like ours: "John & Sarah + Naefie + 1816 GG 11/4." It descended in the Neafie family (Naefie was the weaver's misspelling of the family name). John Neafie (1792-1867) married Sarah Doremus (1797-1869) in 1814, the same year the Underhills married. The Neafies lived in Cedar Grove, Essex County, in northern New Jersey, and, like the Underhills, would have had easy access to New York City weavers.
[Peck 2015; adapted from Amelia Peck, "American Quilts & Coverlets in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," 2007]

Inscription: inscribed: A. Underhill + 1818 [space] GG 12 / 4 SF

Alsha Bonnet, New Rochelle, until died 1880; her great-granddaughter, Ellen Lane Underhill Bishop, died 1985; her best friend's son, Walter K. Storm