Object Number 2010.0018

Object Name

Quilt

Category

Textiles (Furnishing)

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Harry G. Haskell, Jr.

Creator (Role)

Bromley Hall Print Works
1712-1823
"One of the printworks on the banks of the River Lea in Middlesex, it was the first listed in the Excise books when duty was imposed in 1712. Benjamin Ollive was mentioned as a calico-printer in a document of 1720. The firm was known as Ollive & Talwin (1763-1783), Talwin & Foster (until 1790), Foster & Co. (until 1823)." (Source: Hefford, Wendy. The Victoria & Albert Museum Textile Collection: Design for Printed Textiles in England from 1750 to 1850. New York: Canopy Books, 1992).

John Hewson Sr.
1744-1821
John Hewson is said to have come to Philadelphia at the behest of Benjamin Franklin because his family was worried about his loudly proclaimed republican views. The specific cause of his radical political views probably were the changes occurring in the calico printing industry in England. Many London printworks were going bankrupt and the center of the industry was moving to the north of England, causing unemployment and lower wages among the skilled artisans of London. During the Revolution Hewson's business had been all but destroyed by "the savage foe of Britain" as well as his former friends. The loss of materials and equipment meant that Hewson was unable to carry out the complicated madder style of printing, involving sophisticated use of metallic salts to achieve a variety of colors from dark brown to light pink and even a buff color. Instead they resorted to dyeing with indigo in the resist style, "printing ...blue handkerchiefs, with deep blue grounds and white spots; also very neat gown patterns of the same color." After the American Revolution Hewson seems to have been selling his work to merchants rather than individual clients, in July 1781 he specifically addresses his advertisement in both the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal to "Merchants and Storekeepers." Provenanced examples of quilts made from Hewson fabric have a geographic range from Springfield, Massachusetts to Baltimore, Maryland, providing evidence that Hewson's work was sold outside Philadelphia. Hewson seems to have been somewhat pugnacious in temperament, a character trait that was probably essential given the cut-throat nature of competition amongst Philadelphia's calico printers at the time. Hewson's apprentice, John Douglas, ran away on June 26, 1777. Hewson advertised for his return: "He is suspected to have gone to some part of New-England with a former master of his, whom the subscribers bought his time of, a noted villain and a great cheat, goes by the name of John Walters, his right name is John Groase; he is very lame in his hands and feet with the gout...Whoever secures said apprentice in any jail of the United States, and will give information thereof to the subscribers, shall have Twenty Dollars reward, if brought home thirty, and reasonable charges." Hewson only posted a reward of four dollars when his own son, John Junior, ran away from home in June, 1783, telling people that he had "a hard master". Hewson's advertisement seeking his son's return combines threats ("This is to warn all masters of vessels and others not to harbour said lad, as they will answer it another day.") with an offer of compromise ("If he returns to his parents, he will be freely forgiven. And if desirous of going to sea, he shall be provided for accordingly."). He accused his competitors, Nathaniel Norgrove and William Grant, of going to his "Factory at Kensington, while the enemy were in possession of the same" and stealing "a large wooden machine, used in the linen printing work, strongly moored and anchored at the subscriber's wharf; likewise a printing table, colour tub, a number of prints, and several other articles...but not finding the call for them they expected, did maliciously cut said machine to pieces and burn it, and are now retreated to Conestogo Creek, within a few miles of Lancaster, thinking thereby to escape justice: This is therefore to warn them to come and settle with the subscriber for the damages of the same, or cause it to be settled by some correspondent...or they will be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law." Norgrove had come to Philadelphia with Hewson in 1773. He seems to have had at least two partners through the late 1780s. His first advertisement in 1774 describes him as the sole proprietor, but by 1777 the firm is designated as either Hewson and Lang or Hewson & Co. William Lang was a pattern designer and block cutter, and was still associated with the business in 1788, when he demonstrated his skill alongside Hewson in the Grand Procession in Philadelphia to celebrate the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. At some stage Robert Taylor, a bleacher, was also taken into partnership as Hewson advertises the dissolution of their partnership in July, 1785. Quality is an issue that is mentioned in many of John Hewson's advertisements. From the start he stated that his work would equal that of his former employer, the famous Bromley Hall printworks whose products were being extensively imported into Philadelphia. Clearly the poor reputation of American-made goods was prevalent, as he suggests that by wearing his chintz Martha Washington "might be a great means of introducing the like amongst the more affluent of our fellow citizens, and would help to remove the injustice, that at present too much prevails, against American manufactures." He offered "the best price for any quantity of fine country made linen" in 1777. He later printed on cotton "imported from India, in an American bottom". Hewson did undertake the bleaching of small pieces of cloth belonging to clients when he began the business in 1774, and provided this service to the Society in 1789. He never offered to print cloth brought in by his customers, although he did print cotton manufactured by the PSMEUA, but in 1789 they too decided that "the stamping [of] the Bleached cottons to be unprofitable, we have requested Hewson to stop all further process in the Stamping Business." In the following month, March 1789, the Society awarded him a gold plate or medal "for the best specimen of calico printing done within this state." In 1789 he wanted to expand his business. He had received national notice from the reports circulated in newspapers around the country of his role in the Federal Procession of 1788. In 1789 he requested and was granted a loan of two hundred pounds from the State of Pennsylvania "for the purpose of assisting and enabling him to enlarge and carry on the business of calico printing and bleaching within this state." Hewson advertised that "Any person or persons willing to enter into the above mentioned branch of business [calico printing] in an extensive manner, may have further information on the subject by applying to John Hewson & Co." Hewson applied to the State of Pennsylvania for another loan in 1792, but his request was "ordered to lie on the table." Two advertisements from the early nineteenth-century indicate that Hewson and his son John Junior, who had knuckled under and joined the family business, at some time had expanded their business to include a city warehouse and even a weaving factory. John Hewson Senior retired from the business around 1810, and how long it survived into the nineteenth century is unclear.

Dimensions (inches)

Dimensions (centimeters)

Object Description

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