Philip Schum (1814–1880), born in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (Germany), settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. By 1856 he owned a weaving business, which in 1875 was producing 400 “quilts” a week. However, pieces such as this four-color wool combined with natural cotton maybe the half-wool coverlets referred to in a business inventory. This Jacquard-weave pattern  is associated with Schum’s workshop.

Technical notes and description: Cotton and wool warp and wool weft Jacquard tied Biederwand weave cloth. The coverlet is of natural cotton and royal blue, olive, scarlet, and magenta wool. It boasts a star and floral central medallion and a figurative border of a stylized United States Capitol and a bust of George Washington, flanked by a pair of rearing horses, which are placed above a spread-wing eagle supporting an inscribed banner. All four corners contain a representation of a small steamboat.

Related examples: Illinois State Museum, Springfield (acc. no. 746561; Wass 1988, fig. 75).

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.