Art Institute of Chicago

Bed Curtain and Valance

United States

Date

1750/1800

Medium

Linen, plain weave; embroidered with wool yarn in bullion, long-armed cross, satin, and stem stiches; Roumanian and trellis couching

Culture

United States

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The importance of beds in the colonial period is reflected in this charming curtain and valance from a set of hangings that would have been made for a four-poster bed. The set would have originally included multiple curtains and valances, a head cloth, and canopy, and possibly a matching bedcover. Bed hangings provided warmth and privacy, as well as decoration. Embroidered bed hangings were ambitious undertakings that would have been executed by the women of the household. While bed hangings were used throughout the 18th century, the light and airy design of these pieces mark them as the product of the second half of the century. The motifs employed and the types of stitches used demonstrate the movement away from English influences, toward distinctive styles of an independent new nation.

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