lozenges, to imitate blue and white marble." ^' 



One source that provides some idea of what these 

 floorclotiis looked like is patterned marble flooring 

 dating from the 1 8th century. Another source and 

 one that may well have been used by floorcloth 

 painters is an English book of designs for floors. 

 Inscribed on each of the design plates is "I. Carwitham 

 Invfentor] et sc[ulptor] 1739." There is no text aside 

 from the following self-e.xplanatory title page : 



Floor-Decorations of \'arious Kinds, Both in Piano & 

 Perspective Adapted to the Ornamenling of Halls, 

 Rooms, Summer-houses &c. in XXIV Copper Plates. 

 A Work intirely new, & as Serviceable to Gentlemen & 

 Workmen by the Perspective-Views in ye. several hlead- 

 pieces as entertaining to the Ladies in Colouring them. 



Designed, Engraved & Published, according to Act of 

 Parliament, by Jno. Carwitham Sold by R. Caldwell at 

 Mercers-Hall Cheapside & at his House in King Street. 

 Humbly Inscribed to the Rt. Honble. the Ld. Darnley, 

 Grand Master of ye. Ancient & Honourable Society of 

 Free and accepted Masons. 



all sorts of Water Colours, Black-lead Pencils, Indian 

 Ink, &c. Sold. 



Although floorcloths are not mentioned in the above 

 title page, a specific reference to the suitability of 

 such designs for them appears in another copy of the 

 book. This edition has the same plates but a different 

 title page: 



Various kinds of FLOOR DECORATIONS repre- 

 sented both in Piano and Perspective Being useful 

 Designs for Ornamenting the Floors of Halls Rooms, 

 Summer Houses, &c. whither in Pavcmenls of .Stone, 

 or Marble, or wth. Painted Floor Clollis, in Twenty 

 four Copper Plates. 



Design'd and Engrav'd by John Carwitliani, London. 

 Printed for John Bowles at the Black Horse in Cornhill.''-' 



The 24 designs offered by John Carwitham and 

 depicted in such settings as outside terraces, paneled 

 rooms, and entrance halls range from simple patterns 

 of squares to intricate compositions involving a 

 variety of shapes and textures (fig. 8) . Any one of the 

 designs could have been transferred to a floorcloth 



" Anne Grant, Memoirs of an American Lady, witli Sketcha oj 

 Manners and Scenery in America, as They Existed Previous to the 

 Revolution (New York: D. Applcton and Co., 1846), p. 86. 



'- The edition published by Clarwitham, of which the Library 

 of Congress possesses a copy, differs only in the wording on the 

 title page from the one printed for John Bowles, of which the 

 copy owned by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., is reproduced 

 in GoMSTOCK, op. cit. (footnote 28), p. 48. 



Child with Dog 



American, about i8oo 



{Courtesy of Abhy Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection, 



ft'illiamshurg.) 



Figure g. — The cubed pattern surrounded by a 

 border of vines which covers the floor in ihis portrait 

 reveals the artist's skill at simulating marble. 



by "carpet painting done in the best and neatest 

 manner." A comparison of one of Carwithain's 

 designs with the cube pattern depicted in the American 

 portrait Child with Dog (fig. 9), painted about 1800, 

 suggests that such copying was done. Whether such 

 floors were actually copied from Carwitham's book, 

 a marble floor, or some other source is unknown, but 

 it is apparent that floorcloths or painted floors did in 

 fact resemble marble flooring. 



Another type of flooring reproduced on canvas was 

 that made of tiles. Mrs. John Adams, describing 



PAPER 59: FLOOR COVERINGS IN 18TH-CENTURY .A.MERICA 



17 



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