Tablecloth

Description

This small, square linen tablecloth has a hand painted fruit and flower design created with a stencil. The painting was done by Louisa M. Stevenson in the mid to late 19th century, but the tablecloth itself was woven some time earlier, possibly in the late 18th century. According to family history, this tablecloth was given to Stevenson by her grandmother, a Mrs. Glover. This tablecloth is only big enough to cover a small side table, and the stenciled design depicts some of the objects that might have been on it: flowers, leaves, a bowl of fruit, a pitcher, a wine glass, and a knife. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.