Swept Under the Rug: The Use, Representation, & Manufacture of Floorcloths in Early America
Open AccessToday, when visiting historic house museums, it is common to see bare floors or carpeted interiors providing an inauthentic impression of the space. In recent years, curators of private and institutional house museums have turned their attention toward floorcloths, have found records in probate inventories and period invoices, and have begun to correctly integrate reproductions in furnished interiors. However, no complete research has been conducted to comprehensively understand the history, manufacture, and use of floorcloths and much less the interpretation of these objects as furnishings on the American interior. Though frequently ignored, floorcloths produced in the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries serve as a reminder of utility and aesthetics found in the early American domestic sphere.In the eighteenth century, floorcloths were used out of necessity, for comfort, and because of affordability, allowing them to be found even in the most modest home. However, those factors do not necessarily indicate floorcloths were not used in the grand entry halls and dining spaces of the gentry and mercantile class. An important aspect of this thesis explores the variability of floorcloths, or oil-coated canvas rugs, which were sought after by consumers across socio-economic classes. With prices dependent on the painted design and its elaborateness, the range of quality and designs could attract a variety of customers across different regions of the country. By the nineteenth century, highly-skilled painters and pattern designers were manufacturing floorcloths at an industrial scale for the masses in America, which confirms an increasing demand for floorcloths in the home. The lack of scholarship on floorcloths as a medium and as an object provides an opportunity to fully consider the cultural and historical significance of these everyday things in American homes prior to the twentieth century. Through this study, I aim to uncover the manufacture, representation, and use of early American floor coverings as signifiers of culture and status in domestic contexts.
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