Vintage Woven Woolen Coverlet in Colonial Whig Rose Pattern

Blue Whig Rose Woven Coverlet (Blue side)

I bought this gorgeous whig rose wool coverlet on FB Marketplace from a woman in Pennsylvania.  She bought it at an antique store in Baltimore a while back.  She had it in a local rummage sale this summer.  It's absolutely gorgeous! Made of a soft wool in excellent condition.  She could not tell me much more about it, though.

 

Here's the white side on the reverse.

Not sure of it's provenance.  Is it antique or a more recent reproduction?  It's in too good of shape to be antique (no stains, rips or tears), and no seam * where panels were sewn together.  It was woven in 1 big piece at 100 x 146 inches which makes me think it's manufactured, and not a home weaver.  No label as from a commercial maker though.

 

This is less than a quarter of it hanging folded over the couch. 

 

Detail shot of the borders.

I am learning as I collect ...  Woven coverlets were typically made in the home.  A home weaver typically made only 1 or 2 in her lifetime, after spinning the fibers herself.  Materials were cotton or linen for warp, and wool for the pattern weft. Cotton for the stabilizing weft.  Often they would grow the cotton and raise the sheep, process the fiber and spin it into usable yarn so they could weave.

After doing some additional research, my bet is that this is a reproduction factory made coverlet made by The Goodwin Guild (or their their forefathers) in North Carolina.  They specialized in reproducing old coverlet patterns from colonial times.  The mill worked from 1952 through the 1990s out of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  Although the Goodwins were in the weaving business much longer than that ...  The Clinch Valley Blanket Mills ran from 1890 - 1950.  They also ran mills in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee.  

If it's from before 1952, it could be one of the Clinch Valley coverlets, near Tazewell. So it could have been woven there rather than in Blowing Rock?  Apparently, Tom Kniesley is supposed to be the historian on coverlets from that time and place.  Or it could have been woven by some nameless weaver at home on her own very wide loom, using the same old patterns ... 

My specimen is one big piece of woven fabric. It was not panels sewn together, as I would expect if it were made by a weaver at home.   Only a factory would have looms large enough to weave a piece this big.  Although whig rose is one pattern that a home weaver could have done herself, this may have been more mechanized with a jacquard loom in a factory setting.  I still love it!

Image from here.  Goodwin Weavers: Unidentified weaver weaving fabric for "Goodwin Guild" family owned weaving company from Blowing Rock, NC. 1974.

You can see multiple coverlets with the whig rose pattern in different colors piled up behind her.

It looks like this lady is doing the finishing work of weaving, hand-stitching the hems at the edges.  It looks like mine has one of these signature hems, too:

 

Detail shot of the hand-sewn hem at the edges. 

Weaving Drafts Goodwin Guild, Blowing Rock, North Carolina - Library of Congress

Take a look at these old drafts that The Goodwin Guild worked from.  [Follow the link above ...  There are 36 more pictures in the series!] I would not even know how to read these transcriptions.  Very different from what we see today.

 

Charles Goodwin and Sons Weavers and Entrepreneurs - Back Country Makers:

The Goodwins were interested in innovative practices. In the 1890s, they installed new water-powered looms, and during the first decade of the new century discovered a way to eliminate the need for piecing together narrow lengths of woven coverlet fabric. Their seamless coverlets distinguished the Goodwin product from all those that had been made on home looms throughout the mountains of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee with the signature center seam(s). 

The mill's specialty was old-fashioned wool coverlets that the Goodwin advertisements called "colonial style" with names like Rings and Flowers, Lover's Knot, Olive Leaf, Morning Star and Whig Rose.

Today, families across Southwest Virginia still have Clinch Valley Blanket Mill coverlets folded away on closet shelves or carefully stored in blanket chests.

 

I also found a fascinating article about the Goodwins, their woolen mill empire, and how these goods were marketed:

Wilson, Kathleen Curtis. “Fabric and Fiction: The Clinch Valley Blanket Mills, 1890-1950.” Journal of the Appalachian Studies Association, vol. 7, 1995, pp. 50–56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41445679. Accessed 23 Jul. 2022.  

Here are some juicy quotes:

Mechanization increased production in the weaving industry at the turn of the century.  Goodwin used local labor and materials to weave on looms powered by water, steam, and electricity.  Over the years, the mill employed from 30 to 120 workers to weave colonial reproduction coverlets and blankets, using factory spun cotton, commercial dyes, and huge quantities of wool processed in-house. (p.51)

 

When prices were low, farmers traded all their wool for coverlets and blankets to furnish bedding to the extended family or to put away for the next generation.  Even in good times, many families used a little wool in trade.  The woven goods were not only functional and warm, but beautiful as well.  Without the 'trade,' most families could not have afforded such luxurious items.  The mill-woven items became prized wedding gifts and baby presents, and were especially desirable since the giver usually had some association with the weaver or worker involved in it's production.  These coverlets and blankets still remain in families as treasured keepsakes passed from generation to generation. (p.51)

 

[They supplied thousands of wool blankets for the military during the first and second world wars.] In peace time, the mill wove colonial coverlets, lap robes for horse drawn buggies and automobiles, table linens, and baby blankets.  CE and John Goodwin went into the community to borrow handwoven coverlets and pattern drafts to copy.  According to their advertising, Goodwin produced the first seamless coverlets, appealing to northern buyers who didn't like that 'unsightly' seam down the middle.  The end result was a product of quality and durability. (p.52)

 

To sell these household goods, Goodwin avoided revealing his factory production capacity and focused on selling a concept of tradition. While using modern equipment of the day, Goodwin marketed the nostalgic idea of old women spinning and weaving in remote mountain cabins.  He put together 'the story' of his sil weaving background in England, simple mountain people, and faithful adherence to the handwoven coverlets of a bygone era. (p.52)

 

The Clinch Valley Blanket Mills' vast production capacity, coupled with it's quality and authentic 19th century designs, allowed the company to sell thousands of coverlets and blankets to customers who thought they were buying handwoven items. (p.54) 

 

So there's confirmation that it's not considered handwoven at home by a colonial lady )I never really thought it was ...), but it's a lovely example of the whig rose pattern and a lovely woolen coverlet just the same!

 

Here are some other examples of Goodwin woven coverlets:

Antique Jacquard Coverlet Indigo Blue and White Bedcover 100"x 78" on ebay

 

VTG The Goodwin Guild Woven Wool Blue & White Coverlet WHIG ROSE 106x75 QUEEN 

This is one of the more informative descriptions online:

WHIG ROSE Pattern in Navy Blue & White Woven Wool. Reversible design (there are narrow hand-whipstitched hems at top and bottom). 

 

Beautifully woven wool fabric - excellent quality - almost feels like cotton!! Drapes beautifully and resists wrinkling. Has a somewhat light springy characteristic to it! Entire blanket weighs less than 4 lbs!! 

No scratchiness, heaviness or irritation associated with typical wool blankets. Truly a beautiful excellent quality blanket!  

Excellent Condition!! Came from an estate in Southeast Michigan. The children stated they thought it may have never been / or very lightly used. They thought their parents may have received it as a gift, or purchased when traveling years earlier, and put it into storage, as they don't recall ever seeing it used, despite someone being there almost daily. No holes, tears, wear, repairs, stains, odors or other defects noted!! From clean non-smoking estate!

NOTE: if you aren't familiar w/ The Goodwin Guild Woven coverlets, I highly suggest doing an online search on their remarkable history! Many of their coverlets are in museums today!

SMALL ONLINE EXCERPT:  The Goodwin Guild was established in Blowing Rock, NC in the early 1950s after leaving Cedar Bluff, VA. As the coverlet has a Goodwin Guild tag, it could date from as early as that move to North Carolina. The Goodwin coverlets were made with traditional pattern drafts that had been gathered from home weavers in the region, including the Lover’s Knot with Pine Tree Border, Olive Leaf, Rings and Flowers, and Whig Rose.

 

Vintage Goodwin Guild NC Mountains Hand Woven Coverlet in the rare light blue colors - 76 x 106on ebay

 

Vintage Goodwin Guild Woven Bedspread Blue and White Coverlet 91"x110"

 

Vintage coverlet woven by The Goodwin Guild pink ivory on ebay

Just to show they used a variety of colors.

Mike Harman - Weaver - Ashe County - Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

 

 

 

 

 Here it is in the Davison book -- Version II on the lower half of the page.

 

Me in my "home office" researching and writing this post with the new coverlet at my back.

Heaven!