The whole surrounded by a chain formed of thirteen 

 shields, emblematic of each State. 



The sides are ornamented with marine and land 

 trophies, and the corners exhibit very beautiful Cornu 

 Copias, some filled with olive branches and flowers 

 expressive of peace, whilst others bear fruit and grain, 

 the emblems of plenty. 



Under the arms, on the pole which supports the cap of 

 liberty, is hung the balance of Justice. 



The whole being executed in a capital stile, with rich 

 bright colours, has a very fine effect. 



The hand-tied Axminster type carpet was usually 

 made in one piece. As already mentioned, the 

 knotting process made the construction of a seamless 

 carpet possible and was a major reason for employing 

 the technique. The desire to produce a carpet with 

 an elaborate and original design was another reason 

 for using a hand-tied pile. And it was for just such 

 creations as the carpet by Sprague described above 

 that the Axminster process was best suited because 

 hand-tying allowed complete freedom in the choice of 

 colors, arrangement of motifs, and size of designs. 

 Once Sprague had decided on the design for a carpet, a 

 drawing of it was most likely prepared as a guide for 

 the workers and was placed in front of them or slanting 

 over their heads as they sat before the looms which 

 were perpendicular. This was the standard loom 

 position for making Axminster-type carpets and the 

 one used by Thoinas Whitty. Perhaps Sprague's 

 workshop was also similar to that of Whitty's which 

 was described in 1791 by an Englishiuan, E. D. 

 Clarke, as follows: 



The work is chiefly done by women. We saw forty of 

 these employed; the pattern lays before them, and with 

 their fingers they weave the whole. This they execute 

 with great quickness, and it is amusing to observe how 

 fast the most elegant designs are traced out by the 

 fingers of old women and children.'** 



In the same year, 1791, the Philadelphia Gazette of 

 the United States on June 22, reported that Sprague's 

 establishment "already gives employment to a num- 

 ber of poor women and children." According to 

 Philadelphia directories and other sources, Sprague 

 continued to manufacture carpets for a number of 

 years. It is known that when Congress Hall was 

 enlarged and the accounts settled in 1 794, a payment 



was made to "Peter Sprague for Carpeting," sup- 

 posedly for the enlarged Senate Chamber.'"^ Con- 

 sequently, Sprague, who had supplied the original 

 room with one of his carpet "master-pieces," was 

 once again responsible for its underfoot furnishings. 

 Most of the output of the Philadelphia Carpet 

 Manufactory, however, was undoubtedly less am- 

 bitious in size and design than these emblematic 

 carpets. Sprague also is reported to have manu- 

 factured ingrain carpets '"" as well as, according 

 to the Philadelphia Gazette of the United States, "those 

 durable kind called Turkey and Axminster, which sell 

 at 20 per cent, cheaper than those imported, and 

 nearly as low as Wilton carpeting, but of double its 

 durability." The manufacture of the Turkey type 

 parallels the situation that existed in some of the 

 English manufactories of knotted-pile floor coverings. 

 Axminster-type carpets, whether imitations of Ori- 

 entals or the newest designs of the day, were one of 

 the most elegant and expensive types of underfoot 

 furnishings made in the 18th century. Their use by 

 Americans attests to an awareness in the newly 

 formed United States of the current vogue in the 

 fashions in furnishings abroad. Their manufacture 

 by Americans attests to the ability and desire in the 

 young and self-confident nation to produce a type of 

 domestic floor covering equal to and competitive with 

 foreign examples. 



NEEDLEWORK 



Needlework was another method used for making 

 carpets. Unlike the previously mentioned types of 

 floor coverings, most made commercially, carpets in 

 needlework were almost exclusively the work of 

 individuals ii^ and for their own houses. Time and 

 patience, skill in doing cross-stitch and tent-stitch — 

 which were the ones generally used — wool thread for 

 eiubroidering, coarse canvas for a foundation, and a 

 design were the ingredients of a needlework carpet. 

 Work in tent- and cross-stitch had of course been 

 done by needlewomen for some time but the exotic 

 floral creations and imitations of Oriental carpets 

 made in the 17th century, like the conteiuporaneous 

 handiwork with a knotted pile — Turkey work — 



"» Edward Daniel Clarke, A Tour Through the South of 

 England, Wales, and part of Ireland, Made During the Summer of 1791 

 (London: Minerva Press, 1793), p. 49. 



'"' Carson, op. cit. (footnote 103), p. 1 18. 



""William R. Baonall, The Textile Industries o} the United 

 Slates (Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, 1893), vol. 1, 

 p. 169; Philip A. Hall, The Rug and Carpet Industry of Phila- 

 delphia (Philadelphia: Hardwick and Magec Co., 1917), p. 1. 



44 



BULLETIN 250 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



