A Family Group 



English, about 1740 



[Courtesy oj Colonial Williamsburg.) 



Figure 5. — The rich pattern of the large Oriental carpet seen in this informal study of a dancing couple is 

 emphasized by the surrounding bare wood floor. Dancing and music were as much a part of sociability in 

 both England and the colonies as were tea drinking and card playing. 



the New-York Gazette of May 22, 1799, included in 

 a list of imported carpets and carpeting "a variety 

 of Patent (^il Floor Cloths for rooms, 1-2 yd. 3-4 

 and 4^4 do. for Entries." -^ Besides being imported 



^' This and most other New York newspaper references have 

 been taken from Rita Susswein Gottesman, The Arts and 

 Crafts in New York, 1726-1776 (New York: The New-York 

 Historical Society, 1938), and The Arts and Crafts in New York, 

 7777-7799 (New York: The New- York Historical Society, 

 1954). 



by merchants for sale, floorcloths were imported by 

 individuals for their ovv'n use. Residents of Virginia, 

 because they sold their tobacco and consequently 

 established credit in the British Isles, usually "shopped" 

 in the British Isles by way of letters to friends and 

 agents there. Martha Jacquelin writing to her agents 

 in London on August 14, 1769, requested "some neces- 

 saries for House keeping" as well as items for sale in 

 the colony to be sent "by the first Ship for York 

 River," Virginia. Included in the list were "I 

 painted duck Floor Cloth" as well as "2 Kilmarnock 



PAPER 59: FLOOR COVERINGS IN 18TH-CENTURY AMERICA 



11 



