Handloom placemat,wedding gift to Francis Wilder & Virginia Hunt, Buckland, Mass., 1949
Dublin Core
Title
Handloom placemat,wedding gift to Francis Wilder & Virginia Hunt, Buckland, Mass., 1949
Subject
Weaving; Weaving--Patterns; Handlooms; Looms; Buckland (Mass.)
Description
Green, brown, and beige hand-woven cotton table linen with fringe measures 11 inches by 14-1/2 inches and was made on handlooms in Buckland, Mass. by Miss Eleanor W. Clark (1902-1958) and Mrs. Hattie Bertha (Sanderson) Wilder (1867-1958). With an overshot pattern in a fine weave, the piece was a gift to Francis Wilder and Virginia Hunt on 19 March 1949, their wedding day. Miss Clark and Mrs. Wilder were cousins of the bride and groom's families.
Eleanor Clark and her Aunt Hattie Wilder lived together at the Wilder Homestead in Buckland, Mass. in the early 1940's not long after the elder Hattie's husband died. At the homestead there were antique looms, spinning wheels, and yarn winders. Both Hattie, known to most everyone as Aunt Bertha, and Eleanor soon discovered a love and talent for pattern design and weaving on treadle looms. In 1944, Eleanor was appointed Postmaster of the Buckland Center Post Office, which was housed in a building she owned on Upper Street. The building had an apartment that Miss Clark converted into a two-room studio for teaching weaving. She gave lessons in setting up the loom and designing patterns for projects. Other weavers brought their looms and set them up to work together. The group became known as The Buckland Weavers. Eleanor also took on the task of teaching weaving to a group of 4-H girls, known as the Buckland Busy Bees. There were seven or eight girls aged ten to sixteen who learned how to set up a loom, work a pattern, and weave a piece to proudly take home.
Eleanor Clark and her Aunt Hattie Wilder lived together at the Wilder Homestead in Buckland, Mass. in the early 1940's not long after the elder Hattie's husband died. At the homestead there were antique looms, spinning wheels, and yarn winders. Both Hattie, known to most everyone as Aunt Bertha, and Eleanor soon discovered a love and talent for pattern design and weaving on treadle looms. In 1944, Eleanor was appointed Postmaster of the Buckland Center Post Office, which was housed in a building she owned on Upper Street. The building had an apartment that Miss Clark converted into a two-room studio for teaching weaving. She gave lessons in setting up the loom and designing patterns for projects. Other weavers brought their looms and set them up to work together. The group became known as The Buckland Weavers. Eleanor also took on the task of teaching weaving to a group of 4-H girls, known as the Buckland Busy Bees. There were seven or eight girls aged ten to sixteen who learned how to set up a loom, work a pattern, and weave a piece to proudly take home.
Creator
Clark, Eleanor W. (1902-1958) & Wilder, Hattie Bertha, (1867-1958)
Source
Table linen, 11 x 14-1/2 inches, part of the Wilder Homestead Collection
Publisher
C/WMARS http://www.cwmars.org
Date
1949
Relation
From the collections of the Buckland Historical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 88, Buckland, MA, 01338, http://www.bucklandmasshistory.org/contact/
Format
image/jpg
Language
en-US
Type
Image
Coverage
42.60 N, 72.77 W
Files
Collection
Citation
Clark, Eleanor W. (1902-1958) & Wilder, Hattie Bertha, (1867-1958), “Handloom placemat,wedding gift to Francis Wilder & Virginia Hunt, Buckland, Mass., 1949,” Digital Commonwealth , accessed May 23, 2013, http://digitalcommonwealth.org/items/show/138.
Comments