Bed Rugg
Object · not yet checked at the source
- Made by
- Spanish
- Date
- before 1683
- Place
- Spain
- Held by
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Collection
- Europe, Fashion and Textiles (Gift of Robert C. Winthrop)
- Number
- 01.12
- Materials
- cotton
- Size
- 284.5 x 212.6 cm (112 x 83 11/16 in.)
- Themes
- Woven carpet, Hooked & handmade rugs
Cite this source
Research notes
MFA record: "Bed Rugg / Bed Cover", Spanish, before 1683; cotton (Z single); "plain weave with supplementary weft pile (10 low spun singles used to make pile yarn)"; 284.5 x 212.6 cm. Description: "The ground and the design are both of white cotton. The design is woven with a pile like velvet. ... In the middle is a lozenge bearing a crowned animal, two birds and a flower. Made in three breadths and sewed together. Lined with heavy white cotton." Gift of Robert C. Winthrop (the "before 1683" date presumably from Winthrop family provenance; not stated). Why it matters: Before the machine: a white cotton woven-pile bed covering called a "bed rugg", dated before 1683, i.e. a European antecedent of white tufted/candlewick spreads and of the term "bed rugg". Tagged possible (woven, not needle-made). Found: MFA Boston collections search, "bed rugg", 2026-10-28. Image note 2026-10-28 (Claude in Chrome): the museum has an online photograph (see Image page), but its server blocks the image from showing on other sites, so no image link is set.