Bag (Carpet bag)

Description

A carpet bag produced for the Bigelow carpet company by Bagley & Carlton, from Bigelow Brussels carpet.This bag was designed to hold documents and it has a square shape with a flap at the top that secures with a brass latch. Brussels carpet is a thick, woven carpet with loop-pile, made from wool. The thick looped pile is woven into a series of colorful floral designs. The machinery used to create Brussels carpet during this time period was limited to weaving with up to six different yarns at once, giving a maximum variety of six colors in one woven piece. Three different woven patterns are used in this bag.The body of the bag has a square shape and was fully lined with white (or cream) cotton or linen broadcloth. The top flap is trimmed with cotton tape. The handle is built from a strip of the same carpet pattern used along the sides. The strip is rolled around a length of ( sisal or jute) rope and stitched closed along the underside. The manufacturer's mark is stamped in black ink on the lining under the top flap: "Carpet bags/Manufactured from/Bigelow's Brussels Carpet/by [...Carleton...Missing/Unintelligible]" complete examples of this label continue to read "by Bagley & Carleton/Clinton, Mass"