A Historical Perspective – 5 German Linen Weavers

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to teach a class entitled Solving the Mysteries of 19th Century Manuscripts at the Red Stone Glen Fiber Art Center, York Haven, Pennsylvania.  For part of my presentation I gave a brief history of the influence of five published German linen books from 1677 to 1840.  Information on the books is shown below.

• Marx Ziegler’s Weber Kunst und Bild Buch
  (The Weaver’s Art and Tie-Up Book)
  1677
• Nathaniel Lumscher’s Neu Eingerichtetes Weber Kunst und Bild Buch  (New Edition: The Weaver’s Art and Tie-Up Book)
  1677
• Johann Michael Frickinger’s Nurzliches Weber-Bild-Buch (Useful Weaver’ Tie-up Book)
  1740
• Johann Michael Kirschbaum’s - Neues Bild-und Muster-Buch (New Tie-up and Pattern Book) 1771
• Georg Sennewald’s Lehr-und Musterbuch der Einfachen Linnen-und Tischzeugweberei (Text and Pattern Book of Simple Linen and Tablecloth Weaving)
  1840

In the 1980s and 90s Patricia Hilts published her commentary on the books along with complete copies of the book with translations of the German information and her drawdowns of many of the drafts. Ms Hilts discussed the relationship with the patterns from the linen weavers and the 19th century coverlet weavers.  When I look at the block designs found in these books, I am looking at the origin of the American coverlet patterns. Her work was published in volumes 3, 5, 13, 14, 25, and 32 in ARS TEXTRINA, Winnipeg, Canada.  While the books are out of print, they can be found in libraries such as the National Museum of the American Coverlet, Bedford, Pennsylvania; Winterthur Library, Wilmington, Delaware; and Southern Highland Craft Guild Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
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                                 See below my drawdowns from drafts in Ziegler's, Frickinger's and Kirschbaum's books
            Ziegler's Hin-und-weider                            Frickinger's Combined Blocks                     Kirschbaum's Combined Blocks

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