On September 17th I had the opportunity to speak at the “Frederick County By Design” symposium at the Historical Society of Frederick Co. in Frederick, Maryland. My objective was to share my research of nineteenth century Pennsylvania German extant geometric coverlets and their pattern and account manuscripts and to hypothesize that similar coverlets could have been woven by German immigrant weavers in Maryland.
German linen weavers immigrated to Pennsylvania and to Maryland. They may have lived in Pennsylvania for a while before they move to Maryland, since there was a surplus of weavers in Pennsylvania.
The German linen weavers brought their expertise and used their patterns and sometimes the same weave structures to design and weave their decorative bedcoverings. While my study has focused on the Pennsylvania German weavers, similar patterns and weave structures were used by the immigrant Maryland weavers.
I described the work of Jacob Biesecker, an Adams County, Pennsylvania weaver as an example of the typical work done by a German linen immigrant in Pennsylvania. I assume he wove geometric coverlets based on his pattern manuscript. Extant figured and fancy coverlet show that he also wove figured and fancy coverlets.
I was able to draw on information from Clarita Anderson’s 1985 thesis on Maryland figured and fancy coverlet for the part of my presentation on Maryland coverlets. She included biographical information for four Frederick County weavers along with descriptions and photos of their work.
See below for a photo of a Jacob Biesecker (Adams Co., PA) coverlet on the left and an Andrew Corick (Frederick Co., MD) coverlet on the right. See the similarity in style. Anderson labeled the Corick pattern as “Double Lily & Sunburst with a Bird & Rose Bush border.” The Biesecker coverlet has similar large medallion patterns with a bird/eagle and flowering tree border.
German linen weavers immigrated to Pennsylvania and to Maryland. They may have lived in Pennsylvania for a while before they move to Maryland, since there was a surplus of weavers in Pennsylvania.
The German linen weavers brought their expertise and used their patterns and sometimes the same weave structures to design and weave their decorative bedcoverings. While my study has focused on the Pennsylvania German weavers, similar patterns and weave structures were used by the immigrant Maryland weavers.
I described the work of Jacob Biesecker, an Adams County, Pennsylvania weaver as an example of the typical work done by a German linen immigrant in Pennsylvania. I assume he wove geometric coverlets based on his pattern manuscript. Extant figured and fancy coverlet show that he also wove figured and fancy coverlets.
I was able to draw on information from Clarita Anderson’s 1985 thesis on Maryland figured and fancy coverlet for the part of my presentation on Maryland coverlets. She included biographical information for four Frederick County weavers along with descriptions and photos of their work.
See below for a photo of a Jacob Biesecker (Adams Co., PA) coverlet on the left and an Andrew Corick (Frederick Co., MD) coverlet on the right. See the similarity in style. Anderson labeled the Corick pattern as “Double Lily & Sunburst with a Bird & Rose Bush border.” The Biesecker coverlet has similar large medallion patterns with a bird/eagle and flowering tree border.