Coverlet

Leonard Metz

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This coverlet was woven in a single wide panel on a handloom with a Jacquard attachment. Its central pattern is of alternating foliate medallions, and the border shows alternating tulips and bellflowers. Two corner blocks at the lower edge bear the woven inscription: MADE. BY/ L. METZ/ MONTGO/MERY. CO./1842. Leonard Metz was a third generation Mennonite weaver, who worked in the 1830s and 40s in Pennsylvania. In 1832 he advertised in a local newspaper that he had secured the patent rights for a way to weave "figured cloth such as coverlets, table linens, carpets, &c. in a manner superior to any heretofore manufactured in the U. States, having purchased the right for the district of the city and county of Philadelphia, and the counties of Bucks, Montgomery, Lehigh, Berks, Chester and Delaware… He is now enabled to weave almost any pattern which may be requested." (Norristown Herald, April 23, 1832). The advertisement goes on to further explain the breadth of his business and abilities. Strangely enough, although Metz held his new patent as of 1832, and had a wide territory in which he could claim exclusive rights for it, only a few other coverlets made by him are known today.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art