magical mystery carpet
DESCRIPTION
Just over a year ago, on October 7, 2011, Camille visited the Farnsworth Homestead in Rockland, Maine, to survey their carpet collection...TRANSCRIPT
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Magical Mystery Carpet
11/03/2012
By Courtney Jason
Just over a year ago, on October 7, 2011, Camille visited the Farnsworth Homestead in
Rockland, Maine, to survey their carpet collection. Among the pieces surveyed were six
machine-made carpets and three painted floor cloths. All of the carpets were Brussels
carpets, meaning that their pile is looped, like terry cloth, rather than cut, like velvet.
Overall pattern on Carpet B, of the Farnsworth Homestead.
The carpet shown above was identified as "Carpet B" in the survey. It is spring green
and features a Rococo Revival pattern including brown, tan, and white flowers and
leaves. Since Camille's survey, the Farnsworth Museum curatorial team has determined
that Carpet B was originally housed in the living room because the size and shape of
the carpet match those of the room. The spacing between tack holes on the carpet and
tack holes in the floor were compared, which confirmed this discovery.
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Image from the living room of the Farnsworth Homestead with a red carpet installed in the 1930s. The living room was also known as the "green room" for reasons we now
understand.
In late October, 2012, Camille returned to the Farnsworth Homestead to pick up Carpet
B. It is now at Museum Textile Services, where it will undergo conservation treatment.
After extensive surface cleaning with HEPA vacuum, the carpet will be wet cleaned in
deionized water to remove over 160 years of dirt, soot, and dust. This will require us to
build a custom wash tank on the floor of our mill building, as the carpet is larger than our
wetcleaning sink.
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Floor plan of the William A Farnsworth Homestead. Drawing funded by the "Mission 66"
program of the National Park Service, 1960.
After conservation, Carpet B will be returned to the living room of the Farnsworth
homestead. It will be carefully re-installed using existing holes in the carpet and floor
from the previous installation. To protect the carpet from further damage, non-corrosive
tacks will be used and foot traffic in the master bedroom will be limited. Once re-
installed, the carpet will give the visitor a more authentic idea of what the room would
have looked like in the mid 1800s.
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The Farnsworth Homestead is one of the historic properties of the Farnsworth Art
Museum, a longstanding client of MTS. Mext time you are on Route 1 in Maine, visit the
Farnsworth Art Museum, the Farnsworth Homestead, and the Olson House (pictured in
Andrew Wyeth's iconic painting "Christina's World").