18th Century Painted Floor Cloths

Our process is based on the process developed in the 18th century where craftsmen painted both sides of heavy canvas multiple times before starting the design.

18th century painted floor cloths. They were stenciled painted freehand and block printed. Floor cloths were a traditional covering used in many homes in the early 18th century. At black dog gallery we create traditional and contemporary patterned floor cloths that will stand the test of time. The designs painted onto american floorcloths are directly related to those applied to painted floors in the 18th and 19th centuries not those decorating walls.

The sargent family painted by an unknown artist in 1800 shows stenciled walls and a patterned floor cloth or mat. Pineapple stencil was found on the over mantel of the thompson house maine circa 1750. The earliest cloth decorations imitated fine wood marble tile and fashionable turkey carpets. Early american pineapple floor cloth 1.

Floor cloths originated in france in the 1400s and were introduced to the american colonies in the early 1700s. Floor cloths used as early as the 18th century in england to either protect an expensive rug or converted into a lavish floor decoration were initially used by the affluent. Artists painted colorful designs on cloth that became popular because of their beauty as well as their usefulness. Floor cloths were used in the 18th century to protect wood floors from moisture in areas near an outside door around the tub or under the family table.

Barnyard red meadowland green yellow ocher dark secret brown antique glaze. The earliest colonial floorcloths were hand painted with geometric designs or fancy patterns on canvas material. The designs on the walls and floors were almost never transposed explained polly forcier who for 30 years has researched and documented historical new england stencil patterns. The designs were often geometric shapes that varied in complexity.

Originally made from recycled ships sails they were used to cover dirt or wooden floors in early american homes. Floor cloth as the name suggests is a cloth used as either a floor covering or a cloth used to clean your floor with. The border motif is from may house connecticut. Floor cloths have a thick polyurethane finish applied over several coats of paint which strengthens the surface yet keeps it flexible.

Image via national gallery of art with the exception of a handful of colonial era houses most of the oldest brownstones and frame houses in our oldest neighborhoods are from the 1830s to the late 1850s. They were also tessellated in the 18th century geometrics were both plain and marbled. Patterns including diamonds squares and cubes were hand painted or stenciled frequently by the lady of the house.