and Floor Cloths, painted as neat as any from London, 

 Gilding, Japanning, Glazing, etc., etc. 



And no doubt, the floorcloths made in the colonies 

 were as "neat" and stylish as any of the imported 

 ones. After the American Revolution, as before, 

 the manufacture and sale of floorcloths continued 

 to be carried on in conjunction with the painting and 

 glazing trades. According to an advertisement in 

 the Baltimore Maryland Journal of April 13, 1792, 

 Hugh Barkley and Patrick O'Meara did painting 

 and glazing "together W\\.h many other Things 

 relating to the Decorations of elegant Rooms — such as 

 Fancy Pattern-Cloths for Floors and Passages." 



On occasion, floorcloths also were obtained at public 

 auctions of household goods. A "worsted carpet, and 

 painted floor-cloth" were among the items offered 

 at an auction sale advertised in the Boston News- 

 Letter of April 28, 1768, and "a Scotch carpet, and 

 Painted Canvass Floor-Cloths" were listed in a notice 

 of a public vendue that appeared in the November 

 11, 1773, issue of the same paper. The instances of 

 floorcloths included in such sales were few, however, 

 in contrast to the number of advertisements for new 

 floorcloths of either domestic or foreign origin. 



The account and daybooks covering the years from 

 about 1762 to 1802 of the Boston firm of Daniel Rea 

 and Son and its predecessor, the partnership of Rea 

 and Johnston, reveal, however, that not all of the 

 floorcloths decorated by these painters were new. 

 In a number of instances, both before and after the 

 American Revolution, the entries in the daybooks 

 "To Painting your Floor Cloth" suggest that some 

 customers had their worn or used floorcloths repainted. 

 The durability of painted canvas floor coverings is 

 confirmed by orders such as those on November 30, 

 1787, "To Painting an Old Floor Cloath" and on 

 March 31, 1796, "to a Second hand Floor Cloath 

 Painted for Your Entry." In fact, one customer 

 planned to get double the wear from his purchase. 

 An order dated September 20, 1788, reads: "To 

 painting a Floor Cloath both Sides." -' 



Both written and pictorial sources reveal that the 

 appearance of some floorcloths was perfectly plain, 

 while some were ornamented with a border or figures, 



-' Account Books of Daniel Rea and Son, of Boston. (MS, 

 Baker Library, Harvard University, Graduate School of Business 

 Administration; seen on microfilm. Downs Library, Henry 

 Francis du Pont VVinterthur Museum, VVintcrthur, Del.); see 

 also Mabel M. Swan, "The Johnstons and The Reas — 

 Japanners," Antiques (May 1943), vol. 43, pp. 21 1-13. 



and others were covered with an allover pattern. A 

 painted floorcloth, the property of a York County, 

 Virginia, resident in 1 769, referred to simply as "red" 

 was probably plain.-* Presumably, the "painted 

 Green" ones that Thomas Jeflferson used in the White 

 House during his residence were also plain. In the 

 "Small Dining Room — S[outh] front" of the White 

 House was "a canvas floor cloth, painted Green" 

 according to Jefferson's inventory taken in 1809. 

 And in "The Great Hall of entrance" it was noted, 

 "the whole floor covered with Canvass painted 

 Green." These were not the first floorcloths in the 

 White House. When President and Mrs. John Adams 

 vacated the Executive Mansion there was "1 Painted 

 Cloth floor, not in use," stored in a basement room, 

 according to the inventory taken February 26, 1801, 

 of "the Furniture in the President's House, the 

 property of the United States." -' 



Both plain and figured floorcloths were painted for 

 Bostonians by the Reas and by Johnston, according 

 to these painters' accounts and daybooks. For in- 

 stance, there are orders on September 7, 1791, for 

 "Painting a Floor Cloath Plain Yellow" and on 

 August 5, 1794, for "Painting a Floor Cloath Olive 

 Colour with Border and Center piece Corners &c." 

 Besides painting plain floorcloths and ones with 

 "Borders, Center & Corner pieces," these Boston 

 decorators were able to ofTer to their customers, 

 or to comply with the requests for, hoxl\ simple and 

 elaborate patterns. An entry in the daybooks for 

 Septembers, 1771, reads: "To Paintg. 4 ydsof Canvas, 

 Turkey Fatchion ... To do. yds. Stair Case & 

 Entry." Other listings for patterned floorcloths 

 include one on October 14, 1791, "To painting a 

 Room and Entry Floor Cloath in Straw Work & 

 Borders," another on November 30, 1792, "To 

 Painting a Floor Cloath for your Parlour in Cubes" 

 and on April 12, 1794, "To Painting a Floor Cloath 

 Yellow & Black Diamonds Border &c." Among the 



" Helen Comstock, "Eighteenth-Century Floorcloths," 

 Antiques (January 1955), vol. 67, p. 49. 



29 Inventory of Furnishings of President's House, Feb. 18, 

 1809. (MS, Library of Congress. Manuscripts Division.) 

 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1809. Reprinted in Marie G. 

 Kimball, "The Original Furnishings of the White House, 

 Part L" Antiques {juni: 1929), vol. 15, pp. 485-86; Inventory 

 of the Furniture in the President's House, the property of the 

 United States, taken February 26th, 1801. In Margaret 

 Brown Klapthor, "A First Lady and a New Frontier, 1800," 

 Historic Preservation (1963), vol. 15, pp. 90-93. 



PAPER 59: FLOOR COVERINGS IN 18TH-CENTURY AMERICA 



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