Will the Real James Alexander Coverlets Please Stand Up RABBIT GOODY
lowered carpet coverlets, the advertised description of those bed coverings we have come to call "jacquards," have attracted the attention of collectors and historians since they became popular in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Their popularity may be due to their beauty, their complex woven constructions, or the names and dates woven into the corners or borders which connect us to a tangible past of real people. Regardless of why they have remained popular, their manufacture is often misunderstood and attributions to particular weavers is often erroneous. James Alexander's name,for instance, has been associated with many early flowered carpet coverlets, including what have become known as "agricultural quote" coverlets. But, the following research and explanations may help dissolve some of the myths about Alexander, his colleagues and other coverlet weavers. The earliest surviving examples of flowered carpet coverlets were often woven of blue wool and natural colored cotton or linen. These early examples were constructed by weaving two layers of cloth simultaneously and exchanging the layers to create figured designs, a construction known as double cloth. Coverlet construction has been a subject of study for textile historians because very little of the complex weaving equip-
52 SPRING 1992 THE CLARION
ment used to create the earliest examples has survived and the weavers who created them left scattered and incomplete records. That is why, when the account book of James Alexander, a Scotch-Irish immigrant weaver of these flowered carpet coverlets, was discoverd and explored by Virginia Parslow in the April 1956 issue of Antiques magazine, the interest in Alexander as an outstanding early coverlet weaver was rekindled. Many reading this early information mistakenly attributed similar coverlets to Alexander. Closer exploration of his surviving account book and other documents reveal that these comparable coverlets are definitely not Alexander's. Additional research also raises questions about Alexander's weaving business and about other immigrant weavers working with or in close proximity to Alexander. Who else was weaving flowered coverlets in Orange County, NY in the 1820s? What equipment did Alexander have? Where did he receive his training? . . . And, which coverlets did Alexander weave? James Alexander was born in 1770 in Ireland of Scottish parents. No records of his apprenticeship have been found, but he is said to have been apprenticed to the weaving trade. He immigrated to Connecticut in 1798 at the age of 28. By 1800 he had married and moved to Little Britain, Orange County, New York to begin a weaving business and work
on a rented farm. His weaving career grew slowly and bloomed between the years of 1817 and 1828 after which he retired at the age of 50. He continued farming and died just short of his 100th birthday. He is buried in Newburgh, New York. James Alexander became wellknown as one of the earliest documented coverlet weavers in America, because of the survival of his account book, which lists all of his coverlet clientele,' twelve positively identified surviving coverlets dating from 1820 to 1828, and articles written about his work. His dated coverlets are some of the earliest surviving identified examples of the double cloth flowered carpet coverlet. Although he and his workmen were prolific, weaving 251 coverlets in 9 years, only twelve have been positively attributed to his workshop. New research has given us some clearer guidelines for the identification of his contributions along with a greater understanding of early fancy coverlet weaving in America. James Alexander was one of the earliest documented trade weavers
A PAGE FROM JAMES ALEXANDER'S ACCOUNT BOOK, showing weaving drafts for geometric designs. Courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library, special collections, Cooperstown, NY.
Parslow never attributed the "agricultural quote" coverlets to Alexander... to arrive on the wave of Scotch-fish immigration (1790-1840), and we know that he employed other ScotchIrish weavers in his business. Alexander's training in Ireland was probably in a specialized branch of weaving. The scrawled weavers' drafts and notes in his account book indicate that he could weave fancy block (geometric) diaper damask used for table linens (figure 1). Yet, his immigration to America initially demanded a more generalized weaving business, including weaving woolen cloth for clothing, sacking, and common goods. American families could purchase imported textiles, but a trained fancy weaver could make use of yarns spun in the home to help offset the expense. His specialty would have prepared him to weave denser or more complex textiles than
ADVERTISEMENT from the Newburg Political Index; 1818; shows Eikin's advertisement above James Alexander and John Gibbs advertisement. Alexander's first advertisement was designed in 1817. Eikin copies Alexander's advertisement almost word for word.