American Coverlets

Opening May 16, 2026

For many early immigrants to the United States, weaving skills provided a crucial economic foothold in their adopted homeland. Their experience allowed them to master new technologies to produce fabrics such as the coverlet, a distinctive type of bedcover unique to the United States. This display of three coverlets, on loan to the museum in honor of America’s 250th birthday, reflects the personal expressions and artistic innovation of immigrant weavers.

About the Display

Introduced to the United States in the 1820s, the French Jacquard loom used punched cards to automate complex weaving – dramatically expanding the designs weavers could create. European immigrant weavers leveraged this technology to create richly patterned coverlets that often reflected both personal aesthetics and the ideals of the young nation. Made in the mid-19th century, the three examples on display incorporate floral motifs from the weavers’ homelands alongside patriotic American imagery such as the U.S. Capitol, eagles, stars and portraits of early presidents.

Image: Jacquard coverlet with presidents in profile (detail), United States, 1845. The Harold F. Mailand Collection 2008.309.