The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Allen, Laura M.                                 

Title:               Weaving drafts and other papers

Dates:             circa 1800-circa 1960

Call No.:         Col. 979

Acc. No.:        2017x86

Quantity:        2 boxes, 12 volumes

Location:        39 G 3-8

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Laura M. Allen was a teacher, basket maker, weaver, and collector of textiles and weavers' drafts. Most of the materials in this collection were originally amassed by Mrs. Allen, then acquired by Marguerite Porter Davison of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.  She published some of the patterns in A Handweaver’s Source Book in 1953.   After Mrs. Davison’s death in 1953, Helen D. Young acquired and added to the collection.  It is not known if Mrs. Davison added to the collection, nor is it known how much Mrs. Young added.

 

Nothing certain is known of the early life of Laura M. Romaine Allen.  Census records indicate her birth year as 1869, but her grave marker lists 1866; both Ohio and Kentucky have been listed as Mrs. Allen’s place of birth.   Her parents’ names have not been confirmed, but in the 1880 census for Rochester, N.Y., a Laura Romaine, born in 1869 in Ohio, was listed as the daughter of Henry (age 40, a carriage trimmer born in Kentucky) and Eliza (age 38, born in Ohio) Romaine.  This is probably Mrs. Allen’s family.  She married William Hicks Allen (1866-1948) around 1891; he became an Internal Revenue agent.  Mrs. Allen taught school for awhile.  She died in 1951. 

 

The 1914 yearbook of the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanic’s Institute gives more information about Mrs. Allen.   At that time, she had been an instructor in basketry and weaving since 1911 (and continued to do so until 1918).  Prior to that, she had taught basketry at Rochester’s East High School from 1909-1911.  She was a 1910 graduate of the Chautauqua Arts and Crafts Summer School, and she had studied Swedish weaving in Providence, Rhode Island, and Springfield, Massachusetts. 

 

Around 1926, Mrs. Allen donated a collection of weavings to the Smithsonian.  She included some of her own work, as well as antique textiles.  She wove dress goods, pillow covers, damasks, and used synthetic silk as well as wool in her work.

 

Marguerite Porter Davison was born in Ohio in 1887, the daughter of Caroline Pemberton and Charles Hamilton Porter.  (He was principal of a manual and applied arts high school in Cincinnati; she was an artist.)  After high school, Miss Porter moved with her mother and younger siblings to Berea, Kentucky.  There, she became assistant to Anna Ernburg, the director of Berea College’s Fireside Industries, through which she was working to promote weaving and other handcrafts in the Appalachian Mountains.  It was here that Miss Porter began to weave, and here that she met her husband Waldo Davison.  Eventually, the Davisons moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.  She taught weaving in their home and traveled the country giving lectures on hand weaving.  She published several books of weaving patterns.  She collected coverlets and early Pennsylvania linens.  (The coverlets were sold after her death; the linens are now part of the Winterthur Museum collection.)

 

Helen Daniels Young (1894-1983) was a weaver and collector of coverlets.  She attended Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in art.  Her husband Donnell B. Young was a professor of zoology at George Washington University and was also a weaver.  After Dr. Young’s retirement, they moved into his ancestral home built in the 1780s in Hanover, Massachusetts.  She studied weaving at Berea College.  She taught weaving while living in Washington, D.C.  She gave lectures around the country, wrote at least one book, and helped others identify their old coverlets.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Includes scrapbooks containing weavers' drafts, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photographs, and some cloth samples (swatches).  The scrapbooks are labeled: Hooked rugs; Hand weaving, 1924 to 1929; untitled photo album; Table linen; and T.J. Ewing drafts. A label on the inside cover of the Ewing scrapbook says he was a master weaver who came to America from Germany in 1734 [i.e. 1754] and settled in Broadway, Va. At his death, he left a handbook of coverlet, towel and other drafts; this scrapbook is a copy of those drafts.  As well, the collection includes seven large volumes of weavers' drafts, some in color; the volumes are stamped "Laura M. Allen Collection of Drafts," and are numbered Books 2-8.  (The whereabouts of Book 1 is unknown.)  

 

The collection also contains additional weavers' drafts, some with cloth samples (swatches); correspondence, 1928-1936, from Mary M. Atwater of Basin, Montana, to Laura Allen, most from concerning hand weaving and the Shuttle-Craft Guild; Mrs. Allen’s notebooks about basket weaving; and notebooks of Helen Young concerning weaving, dyeing, knitting, etc.  Information about sources for hand-woven goods, Berea College, and related topics is also found.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

 

RELATED MATERIAL

 

See thesis by Amy Gallagher, Education Through the Loom: Arts and Crafts Movement Ideal, Laura Allen, and the Handweaving Revival in America, done at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2003.

 

Additional scrapbooks kept by Laura M. Allen are held at the Handweaving Museum and Arts Center in Clayton, New York.

 

Marguerite Porter Davison’s library, which included books owned by Laura M. Allen, is in the library of Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsylvania. 

 

Information about Marguerite Porter Davison is found in Sara A. Jatcko’s thesis “The Love of Research and the Gift for New Weavings”: The Work, Collections, and Legacy of Marguerite Porter Davison.

 

For information on William Henry Harrison Rose (Weaver Rose), see Isadora Safner, The Weaving Roses of Rhode Island (Loveland, Colo.: Interweave Press, 1985).

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Atwater, Mary Meigs.

                        Ewing, Thomas J.

                        Hall, Eliza Calvert.

                        Rose, William Henry Harrison, 1839-1913.

 

Topics:

            Shuttle Craft Guild.

            Coverlets.

            Hand weaving.

            Household linens.

            Rugs, Hooked.

            Tablecloths.

                        Textile fabrics \x Specimens.

Weaving - Patterns.

Weaving - Patterns – Collectors and collecting.

Weaving – Societies, etc.

Newspaper clippings.

Swatches.

Weaving drafts.

 

            Additional author:

                        Davison, Marguerite Porter, 1887-1953.

Young, Helen D. (Helen Daniels)

 

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 39 G 3-8

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:          Correspondence: Mary M. Atwater to Laura M. Allen, 1928-1936.             

                                    Mary Meigs Atwater (1878-1956) was instrumental in reviving hand weaving in the United States.  She collected old drafts, taught, and wrote about hand weaving.  At the time of writing these letters, she lived in Basin, Montana, where she began the Shuttle-Craft Guild and edited its bulletin.

                                    In a letter dated July 27, 1935, Mrs. Atwater mentioned that Mrs. Allen was to be listed in “Who’s Who.”  In a letter dated Jan. 5, 1936, she mentioned that Mrs. Allen was working on a thesis.  In her letter of Oct. 30, 1936, Mrs. Atwater commented on the upcoming presidential election.

                                    Mrs. Allen wrote a few notes on Mrs. Atwater’s letters.

 

Folder 2:          Correspondence: letter from C.[?] Callinges[?] of Guernsey, Pa., Oct. 31, 1951, to Mary Wise, Loch Raven, Md., which mentions Mrs. Young; she discusses the photos needed by Mrs./Miss Smith

 

Folder 3:          Photographs, yarn samples, and a weaving sample (swatch);

                                    The photos of weaving samples are marked “photo by Mary J. Wise,” and a caption on the back of one attributes the depicted weaving to Helen D. Young; it is possible these are some of the photos mentioned in the letter in Folder 2.

                                    Yarn samples from Maxwell Hawker Textile Design and in the booklet Notes on Vegetable Dyeing by Rose T. Briggs.  The swatch is not identified.

 

Folder 4:          miscellaneous clippings: two on hooked rugs, one on the 15th century Spanish cross stitch; an article about hand-weaving as a profession (from Mademoiselle, July 1950); an article on rug weaving by Mary M. Atwater (with address sticker of Helen D. Young); and a rough sketch of a weaving design

 

Folders 5-8:     Weaving drafts, with some swatches, including work by Helen D. Young;

Many of the drafts include pattern names, and a number are attributed to specific people, including Mary M. Atwater and Helen D. Young; includes work and weaving samples (swatches) done by Mrs. Young for the Shuttle-Craft Guild sample record.

In the third folder is found a sample woven from the draft written from the original old coverlet woven or owned by Susan Crane Prentiss (see Col. 50, acc. 2017x85.42 for this coverlet’s draft as delineated by Henry A. Hoffman).

 

Folder 9:          notebook: Basket weaving, no date, no binding;

                                    The name Miss Nichols is found on the first page; opens with directions for braid border; includes directions for a number of different kinds of baskets and trays: banana, bamboo plant, shopping, English breakfast roll, errand, flower, candy, sandwich, etc.  Includes sketches of some baskets.

 

Folder 10:        notebook: Baskets: dyeing, making, staining and polishing, directions for making several different kinds, history of baskets.

                                    Typed notes in an album stamped with the name Mechanics Institute

 

Folder 11:        notebook: Baskets, East High course, 1909-1910.  Just two pages of notes for making thread, button, lunch, work, jardinière, fruit, and pottery baskets.  Additional notes written inside front cover of notebook.

                                    In notebook: Rochester Composition Book.

 

Folder 12:        notebook: Rugs, 1911 to [blank], L.M. Allen, Rochester, N.Y.

                                    Label on front: braided, crocheted, hooked, knotted, kelim, felt applique, hooked bags, etc.

                                    Note inside: hooked rugs taught by Mrs. W. E. Raymond, Home Bureau member, Rochester, N.Y.

                                    The binder original held Gregg Shorthand Progressive Exercises.  These pages were removed and replaced with a stenographer’s notepad labeled Rugs, Marguerite P. Davison.  Contains notes about rugs.

 

Folder 13:        notebook: notes on Weaving and Dyeing, circa 1911;

                                    Index in back of volume.

                                    Opens with notes about weaving; on pages 26-39 are lists of products available from various places (Roycroft Shops, Deerfield, Talbots) and their prices; closes with notes about dyes and dyeing.

                                    Inside front cover: list of items to be made by first through fourth graders, including oblong mat, hammock, stocking cap, and bath slippers; another notes scattered inside front and back covers.

 

 

 

Box 2: [note: the original Box 2 indicated it had eight folders in it, but only seven folders were found when it arrived in the Downs Collection; contents of folders 1-2 removed from overstuffed Box 1 and placed here]

 

Folders 1-2:     notebook: Miscellaneous: Needle work and knitting,: circa 1915-1940s, with loose clippings removed from notebook and placed in second folder;

                                    Includes knitting instructions from Red Cross for making items for World War I soldiers and sailors, as well as knitting, crocheting, and beading instructions for baby clothes, home accessories, lace, etc.

 

Folders 3-4:     remnants of two large books of weaving drafts, 19th century, created by unknown weaver(s).

                                    Both sets include drawings of patterns, weaving drafts, and treadling guides.

                                    Paper of both sets is watermarked: S & B within a five-pointed star.  Neither has covers; both have pages cut out.

                                    Folder 3: named patterns: Snowball, Jefferson’s quilt.

                                    Folder 4: named patterns: Compass, Nicholas, Queen’s Delight, snowballs, Ms & Os in bunches, Mountain Cucumbers or King’s Puzzle, Mary Robertson’s counterpain, diaper buck, Ladies[?] Patch counterpain, kersinett[?], double bird’s eye, stokenett [sic], sattonett,

 

                        [Interestingly, these pages are almost identical in size to the weaving book of Thomas J. Ewing (see acc. 2017x86.4).]

 

 

Folder 5:          various 19th century weaving drafts, mostly not named, apparently from different sources;

                                    On back of one draft: weight of Mrs. M. McKay’s web, Oct. 1, 1824;

                                    On back of another draft: James Hendren’s account with Edward Northchraft, April-May 1817, for seed;

                                    Several names are found on back on one draft, but some are difficult to read;

                                    Named patterns: Snowball, The Rising Sun, double carpeting, Queen’s Delight.

 

 

Folders 6-7:     Joh. Andr. [Johann Andreas] Schaller[?] Muller [or Schallermuller], 1780-1813: weaving drafts, from Germany.

                                    In addition to his name and the date 1808 on the cover page, the initials IASM and the year 1783 are found on page 3, and Johann’s entire name and the year 1780 are found on page 23.  (Missing pages 12, 15, 17, 20.) 

                                    Includes patterns and weaving drafts.  Some patterns are drawn on graph paper, and some pages include the names of the printers of the graph paper.   

                                    Page 25 was sent to M.M.A.[Mary M. Atwater] in January 1932.

                                    Many pages have been mended with brown tape.  Notes on reverse of cover and on page 36 read “for key to drafts & key to treadeling [sic] see Murphy book pages 79 to 95.”

                                    Mrs. Allen imported this volume from Leipzig, Germany, in 1931.

 

Folder 8:          Henry Port/Porte (1810-1891): photocopy of weaver’s draft book.

                                    Henry Port of Clarion County, Pennsylvania was a farmer and weaver.  His parents came from Alsace.  Most of the patterns in his book have names. 

                                    The original is held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

 

Folder 9:          weaving patterns: modern transcriptions of old patterns, done by or collected by Helen D. Young, 1950s-1960s.

 

 

 

Volumes on shelf:

 

acc. 2017x86.1            “Hooked Rugs,” Mrs. Laura M. Allen, Rochester, N.Y.

                                                scrapbook of articles, pictures, and advertisements pertaining to hooked rugs, 1920s.

 

 

acc. 2017x86.2            “Hand Weaving, 1924 to 1929,” Laura M. Allen, Rochester, N.Y. [label inside volume]

                                                scrapbook of articles, weaving drafts, drawings of and advertisements for looms, notes, booklets, photographs, etc., pertaining to hand-weaving.  On the first page is found a typed statement of William Hicks Allen (husband of Laura M. Allen) about his father raising sheep and his mother spinning the fleece into yarn, but hiring local weavers to do that work.

                                                Includes designs available from the Sherburne Looms of Nantucket, Mass.; an advertisement for the Homespun Shops at the Grove Park Inn; the course of study at the Boston School of Occupational Therapy for 1925-1926; a catalog from Colonial Coverlets, Rosemont, Marion, Virginia; circulars from Mary M. Atwater about the Shuttle-Craft School of Handweaving; invitations from the Colonial Coverlet Guild of America; catalog of blankets available from Vermont Natives Industries; advertisement with samples for Means Weave Shop (Lowell, Mass.); and photos of “The House Next Door,” owned by R. L. Warner, a weaver in Racine, Wisconsin.

 

 

acc. 2017x86.3            Photo album, chiefly of woven coverlets, Laura M. Allen, Rochester, March 16, 1930.

                                    Opens with a photo of Wm. Wade, with note “I am indebted to Mr. Wade for many coverlet photos, L.M. Allen, 1922,” although the photo is dated 1912.   Mrs. Allen’s friend Eliza Calvert Hall (1856-1935, a collector and writer, with especial interest in coverlets) also supplied a number of photos.

                                    Most of the photos and printed pictures are labeled with name of pattern, source of photo, date photo taken, a bit about the weaving process (e.g. “four harness weave”), name of weaver (work by Mary M. Atwater and Laura M. Allen included), and place the item was found.  Two photos show Miss Talitha Cumi Woodey of North Carolina, standing on the porch of her house, with one of her coverlets hanging next to her.  Some items are loose, not mounted.

                                    The album also includes a catalog from Clinch Valley Blanket Mills (Cedar Bluff, Va.); a catalog from Colonial Coverlets, Rosemont, Marion, Virginia; various materials from Berea College, including postcards, pictures, thread samples, letters to Marguerite Davidson (Mrs. Waldo Davidson) of Buffalo, and several issues of The Berea Quarterly.

 

 

acc. 2017x86.4            Thomas J. Ewing: weaving drafts, 18th century: copies made by Mrs. Allen in 1923. 

 

WARNING: VERY BRITTLE; LOOSE ITEMS IN VOLUME; HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE

                                   

According to a note written by Mrs. Allen, based on information given to her by Mary E. Myers, Thomas J. Ewing came to American from Germany in 1754 [the date 1734 is a mistake] and settled in Broadway, Virginia (Rockingham County).  He created an album with over 80 coverlet, towel, and other weaving drafts.  Ewing’s great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Myers of Missouri, let Mrs. Allen photograph and copy the drafts. 

                                    Although Ewing was supposedly a master weaver from Germany, the pattern names are all in English; and a pattern name like “Sixteen States” does not tally with a mid-18th century immigration.  Also, the surname Ewing is Scottish, not German.  So, this family story is a little suspect. 

 

 

acc. 2017x86.5            “Table Linens,” six-ring binder with weaving drafts for table linens collected by Mrs. Allen, 1920s-1930s.

 

                                    Copies of patterns; not original patterns from the 18th and 19th centuries.  Mrs. Allen gives the names of the patterns and the names and home states of the weavers from whom the patterns were acquired.  She also included notes about when a pattern was woven, whether she drew the pattern, etc.  Also found are a few woven samples of variations of the Snow Drop pattern and one sample of the pattern Highlander’s Delight.

 

 

acc. 2017x86.6-.12      binders: Laura M. Allen Collection of Drafts, books 2-8, circa 1874-circa 1950

 

                                    Book 1 is missing.  It is not known who put together these binders; certainly it was not Mrs. Allen, but possibly it was Mrs. Davison or Mrs. Young.  (Mrs. Davison’s daughter recalled that the Allen collection was in boxes when it was acquired by her mother.)   Some of these patterns were used in Mrs. Davison’s book A Handweaver’s Source Book. 

 

Books 2-5 hold four-harness patterns.  Book 6 has patterns for linen, patterns from “Weaver” Rose (William Henry Harrison Rose, 1839-1913, an early figure in the revival of American hand weaving), and patterns for dimity.  Book 7 has drafts, crackle, and multi-harness patterns.  Book 8 has large patterns.

 

                                    The patterns are identified like those in the Table Linens album: name of pattern, from whom collected (Mrs. Allen had many sources for patterns), when collected or when piece was woven, etc.  The patterns were glued to pages, but a number of the patterns are now loose so care must be taken in turning the pages.  Some of the patterns have comments written on them; an example (found on page 590 in Book 7): Phebe Pennington sent Mrs. Allen a draft for “Baltimore Diamond,” and wrote a story about her father driving cattle to Baltimore when she was a girl.

 

                                    Most of the patterns in Book 5 (acc. 2017x86.9) are large.  At least four (on pages 423, 424, 447, and 448) are titled after pieces of music; apparently, Mrs. Allen was listening to these songs when she designed the patterns.