Museum Floorcloths
Canvasworks' Tumbling Block at the MFA
Canvasworks Floorcloths can be seen in these Museums and Historic Homes (view photos by clicking here):
Mystic Seaport, CT
Darnall’s Chance House in Upper Marlboro, MD
Joseph Smith Farmhouse Museum in Palmyra, NY
Old St. Augustine Village Museum, FL
Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, New York, NY
Hanover Tavern, Hanover, VA
Schulyer Mansion Museum, Albany, NY
Melrose Plantation, Natchez, Mississippi
Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, LA
Carlyle House Museum, Alexandria, VA
Minuteman National Park, Concord, MA
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA.
Allegheny Portage RR National Historic Site
Hunter Dawson State Historic Site, New Madrid, MO
Allegheny Portage Railroad Museum, Gallitzin, PA
Kew Palace, Kew, England
Floorcloths can be traced back as far as 14th century France and were widely used in America in the 18th and 19th centuries right up until the time linoleum was invented in 1860. Itinerant painters traveled throughout rural areas, painting “oylcloths” to provide decorative floor coverings when carpets were difficult to acquire. Contemporary inventories indicate that floorcloths were manufactured in England in the 18th century and were exported to the colonies with some regularity. Prior to the American Revolution, it was considered very prestigious to own an imported floorcloth.
Click here to read a wonderful article about the history of floorcloths.
Lisa Curry Mair has researched the history of floorcloths extensively, and over the past 18 years has reproduced dozens of pieces for museums throughout the country. One of her most recent reproduction was made for Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts’ Art of the Americas wing where she advised the museum on an 18th c. floorcloth design which she then fabricated and delivered to the museum. It is on display in the “Regional Styles” Gallery.
Consultation services are offered to historic house museums and individual historic homeowners by Lisa Curry Mair, a leading authority on period floorcloths. She will identify suitable historic floor coverings for restoration projects and provide planning and pricing for commissioned reproductions. Please call the studio at 802-263-5410 or send an email to lisa-at-canvasworksfloorcloths.com to set up a consultation.
