This runner is similar in design to a much larger piece I recently sold. That piece was purchased from an Edinburgh lady who remember it being used to cover the best carpet, in her mother's house (See SOLD section). This piece, which is narrow, is unused, retains its glazed finish and is of a very good quality.
My thanks to Peter Greig of Peter Greig & Co bespoke weavers of Kirkcaldy, Scotland who felt the drugget was woven in Dunfermline by either Erskine Beveridge or Hay & Robertson who were both weavers of linen jacquards.
The central section woven with stylised flowerheads within squares, alternating brown and cream, the borders in a neoclassical design of flowers and leaves, between guard stripes,
3.6 m x 55 cm ;11ft 10 x 21 1/2 in wide
Unused. It still has the glazed sheen to it. However, the last half metre has some yellow markings.
Druggets were used in large houses during the 18th century and continued until the early 20th. They were laid over a carpet to protect and preserve it when the room was in daily use, and only removed for company. Or they could be laid over an expensive carpet when the house was shut up for the winter. The same applied to the stair carpet. They were very tightly stretched over the carpet to avoid accidents. By the second quarter of the 19th century druggets were very wide, being sometimes two yards and sometimes four yards.
In 1911 Maple & Co of London were advertising Linen druggets in each size...up to 5 by 8 yds.
Textiles in America 1650-1870 - Montgomery, Florence M T p 226
Textiles at Temple Newsam - Bower, Helen p 43 , no 188 for similar.
All images and text © meg-andrews.com 2021
