Colonial Floor Cloths

Venues such as colonial williamsburg and historic charleston have thousands of guests walk across our floor cloths each year.

Colonial floor cloths.

In colonial times when people did not have the money to import a nice carpet they would make do by painting a floor cloth on canvas. Directly inspired by artwork and textiles in the extensive archives of the colonial williamsburg foundation this collaboration introduces a fresh approach to historic floorcloths an essential element in many 18 century homes. The tin bin sells early american colonial floor cloths that are hand painted with stencils in pennsylvania. Midnight blue yellow ocher meadow green brown antique glaze price.

We have created hundreds of cloths over the years for both private households and historic landmarks. Referred to by most today as floorcloths only remnants of these cloths remain in historical collections including colonial williamsburg museums. The floorcloth was initially viewed as an affordable alternative to the grander woven carpets of the wealthy or as an imitation of marble tile and inlaid parquet but came to be valued for its own sake. What they needed was a piece of canvas and some paint and a brush.

They served the purpose of adding style and color to a room while protecting wooden floors. The painted canvas rugs also known as floorcloths or oylcloth were in wide use during most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Border stencil from south britain connecticut colors used. Check out our floorcloths selection for the very best in unique or custom handmade pieces from our floor rugs shops.

Weston colonial floorcloth 3 floor design from weston massachusetts. Perhaps they used the remnant of a sail. Floor cloths were a traditional covering used in many homes in the early 18th century. During john wickham s lifetime 1763 1839 a floorcloth was a term that referred to a traditional rug or fitted carpet substitute made from treated or untreated wool linen or cotton.

Below is a sampling of locations where you ll find our work. More on floorcloth history. Here are some photos of floor cloths. The earliest colonial floorcloths were hand painted with geometric designs or fancy patterns on canvas material.

Spicher and company s vintage vinyl floor cloths are durable and a cost effective way of upgrading and protecting your floors.