Phebe Warner Coverlet

Made in about 1803 for Phebe Warner of New York, this bedcover's design relates more closely to eighteenth-century sources than to those of the nineteenth century. The maker was influenced by the central flowering-tree motif common to popular imported Indian bed hangings, called "palampores," as well as by the pastoral landscape needlework pictures often worked by young women. The coverlet's linen ground is appliquéd with large-patterned cotton chintzes and printed linens, as well as smaller-patterned cotton calicos and plaids, most of which were made in England.