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The motifs and design elements of lighting, furnishings and everyday household implements have long served as teachers, offering clues and insight into the lives of the people who created and owned them. Here is a comprehensive tour of figured coverlets made between 1817 and 1869. These antique woven bedcovers, with their graphic and colorful images of trains, animals, buildings, heroes and patriotic symbols, provide a wonderful and perhaps unique snapshot of the bright optimism that was the 19th-century spirit of America.

Over 100 coverlets are shown in full, in color, and on both sides. They include many early and rare pieces, offering an unprecedented reference on the subject. Nearly all are dated and/or identified, and represent all the major