19thC Honespun, Handwoven Linen Table Mat
With Lancaster County, PA Provenance
This is another little textile that I have had in my collection of “small pieces with provenance”.
It's a small homespun linen table mat with a bit of decoration, and measures 15 1/2 inches wide selvage to selvage, and 11 1/2 inches long.
It came with a note written on a tag, which was yellowed with age when I purchased it. The tag reads: “ This homespun linen was raised and spun by Jacob Schaub on his farm near Strasberg, Lancaster County about 1825. 127 years later it was purchased from his granddaughters and woven into mats and towels by Florence B Kreider of Lancaster, PA.”
What this would suggest is that Jacob spun the flax into linen yarn but did nothing else with it. Then, in 1952, Florence purchased the skeins and wove the threads into linen cloth.
As you can see by the pink geometric designs running across both ends, she added her own touch and decoration to the finished product.
Condition is very good with one or two small spots of soil, which could probably be soaked out. I've never done anything to it. It is as I purchased it.
It presents a nice piece of Pennsylvania homespun cultural history: in the early 19thC a farmer grows flax and turns the raw product into yarn that 125 years later will be used by a weaver to make utilitarian textiles. What a nice fabric historical document. deals
Product code: Antique Homespun Linen Table deals Mat