James Prince and son, William 



by John Brewster, Jr., 1801 

 {Courtesy of Historical Society oj Old 



Newbury, photo courtesy oj The 



Art Imtitute of Chicago.) 



Figure 19. — The floor of this room 

 is entirely covered with a pat- 

 tern in shades of gray from 

 Hght to dark. A letter on the 

 portable desk is headed "New- 

 buryport Novr. 24 1801." 



Philada. Parlours & chambers completely equipped with 

 every luxury as well as convenience.^" 



The use of woven cut-pile carpeting in this country 

 almost coincides with its availability in England. 

 Wiltons began to appear on the American market soon 

 after the middle of the 18th century. Consequently 

 houseowners and homemakers on both sides of the 

 Atlantic were able almost simultaneously to cover their 

 floors with carpeting that was both stylish and service- 

 able. And Wilton-type floor coverings have sustained 

 this reputation so that they are in the 20th century, as 

 they undoubtedly were in the 18th century, one of 

 the most satisfactory kinds of underfoot furnishings. 

 The desire of anyone today might be the same as 



™ Letter from Thomas Lee Shippen, Sully, Va., to Dr. 

 William Shippen, Jr., Philadelphia, Oct. 24, 'l797. (MS, 

 Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division.) Shippen Papers, 

 vol. 2. 



that expressed by John Quincy Adams in his poem 

 "The Wants of Man." 



And maples, of fair glossy stain. 

 Must form my chamber doors, 



And carpets of the Wilton grain 

 Must cover all my floors."' 



AXMINSTER 



Axminster was yet another kind of pile floor cover- 

 ing available to the 18th-century American. As with 

 Brussels and Wilton, the name was that of a type of 

 pile as well as a place of manufacture. In contrast 

 to the looped and cut-pile floor coverings which were 

 woven in narrow strips, however, Axminster could 

 be made in one piece without seams. And the pile, 



"' John Quinc' Adams, Poems of Religion and Socie/y (Buffalo, 

 N.Y.: Miller, Orton and Mulligan, 1854), p. 18. 



40 



BULLETIN 250 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



