Four roses pattern with Eagle border

Object NameCoverlet

Artist / Maker Joseph Gilmour (Scottish-American, born 1805)

Artist / Maker William Gilmour (Scottish-American, born 1807)

Date1843

MediumDark blue wool and white cotton

Dimensions74 × 176 in. (188 × 447 cm)

ClassificationsTextiles and Apparel

Credit LineTranferred from Applied Arts Department. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number74.32.129

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: This coverlet is easily recognized as the work of the Gilmour brothers. A double weave in blue and white, the coverlet features the brother’s well-known artistry in design. Trained as weavers in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the Gilmour brothers immigrated to Dunlapsville, Indiana, in the early 1830s. The Gilmour brothers trademark features a ship and the creation date in the lower right corner block, like this coverlet dated 1843. Joseph Gilmour’s favored lower border depicts a row of two-story houses, interspersed with branching trees and a paling fence. The overall design is considered “Frenchman’s Fancy” and incorporates a lotus primary motif in a mosaic layout. This Frenchman’s Fancy pattern has been identified with a historically advertised name applied to several patterns. Approximately ﬁfty coverlets spanning 1838 to 1842 have been attributed to the brothers’ work, examples of which are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and Colonial Williamsburg. The Farm House Museum collection features over twenty coverlets, including two ﬁne examples attributed to speciﬁc weavers: this example by the Gilmour brothers and a “Four roses pattern with Eagle border” by Jacob Impson (American, 1802−1869).

MarkingsYEAR 1843 in corner block

Locations