Weaver's pattern book
Date1829
MediumPaper
Dimensions12 5/8 inches x 8 inches (32.3 x 20.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1981-57
DescriptionBook containing 110 pages, 27 of which have recorded drafts for weaving patterns. The title page is inscribed and painted in watercolor: "Jesse Marsteller/ Springfield Township Bucks County/ Seschrieben den 21 Februarius Im Jahr Unsers hernn/ 1829". Six pages are painted with watercolor: the cover, a page with the inscription "H. Victor" in ornamental letters, and four colored draw-downs for coverlets. Three pages give information regarding types and amounts of thread used for warping the loom in preparation for weaving cloth and carpets. Toward the end of the book the pages are written in a different hand in a combination of English and German, accompanied by annotated drawings, mostly unrelated to weaving. The drafts included in the book include "summer and winter," double-faced twill, double cloth, overshot, and small patterned linen weaves.Label TextJesse Marsteller, whose name is decoratively inscribed on the cover of this pattern book, is likely Jesse Marsteller (1809-1875) of Upper Saucon, PA. This book may be an early compilation that followed Marstellar throughout his career; he was later listed as a weaver in the 1850 and 1860 federal censuses. Marstellar wasn't the only weaver in his family, either. His brother, Thomas, wove coverlets in Lower Saucon, PA. One extant example survives at the National Museum of American History.
1810-1825
Thomas Skynner (active 1840-ca. 1852)
1850-1855
Mary Wright Alsop
1800-1850
