Coverlets as Centennial Memorials
Coverlets made for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition were affordable keepsakes that allowed visitors to take home a meaningful piece of America’s first centennial celebration.
In the 19th century, coverlets were often both commemorative and practical. They were made or commissioned as gifts for events like birthdays or engagements, with the year and the recipient’s name woven into the design. There were also coverlets that celebrated an especially important birthday: the United States Centennial.
A centennial coverlet featuring a picture of Memorial Hall, the art gallery constructed for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, sold for $101* at Forsythe’s Auctions in May. There is no mistaking this; the words “Memorial Hall” and “Centennial,” plus the dates “1776–1876,” are woven into the margins in two ways, since, like most coverlets, it was designed to be reversible. This coverlet is red and white, but the same design was made in other colors, including a version with multicolor stripes.
Memorial Hall is the only one of the five main buildings constructed for the Exhibition that still stands. It was planned to be a museum after the event, and it became the Pennsylvania Museum of Art in 1877. Today, it is home to the Please Touch Museum, a center for hands-on exhibits and activities for children. It also has a scale model of the Centennial Exhibition fairgrounds in its collection.
Coverlets with the Memorial Hall design were made as souvenirs for the exhibition. The Smithsonian Institution has one in its collection and notes that it is lower quality than typical coverlets of the time. This indicates that the coverlets, intended as affordable souvenirs, were produced quickly in large quantities. Some historians speculate that they were made at the exhibition as one of many demonstrations of American industry.
Weaving was an important industry in 19th-century America. While the earliest coverlets were homemade, trained weavers who immigrated from Germany and Great Britain established their own factories. Collectors have observed that these professional weavers often combined weaving techniques and folk motifs from their home countries with patriotic American symbols like eagles. This is evident in the Memorial Hall coverlet, which features a border of stylized flowers reminiscent of German folk art.
The Memorial Hall coverlet isn’t just a souvenir of a special event. Its celebration of the Centennial, its connection to American history, and its combination of American symbols and European folk motifs make it part of the country’s history.
*Price includes a 26% Buyer’s Premium.
Click below for more articles celebrating our Nation's semiquincentennial birthday.
