Venetian Carpet Weaving

My great great great grandfather, Alexander McAdoo immigrated to Philadelphia in 1852. The 1860 census lists his occupation as a venetian carpet weaver. I was not familiar with that trade, so I decided to investigate. This is what I have learned —

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1813) defines venetian carpet as “an inexpensive carpet, used for passages and stairs, having a woolen warp which conceals the weft; the pattern is therefore commonly made up of simple stripes.” For those who may be unfamiliar with weaving terms — warp refers to threads running lengthwise on a loom or in a piece of fabric. Weft refers to the horizontal threads of a woven fabric or a tapestry.

Venetian carpets, as defined by The Dictionary of Needlework — “These are manufactured both in England and Scotland. They are composed of a worsted warp, traversed by a woolen weft, and arranged in stripes of different colors. By a peculiar interchange of the two threads the production of the design on both sides of the stuff is accomplished, and the carpets are durable as well as thick. Such carpets were also produced in the home, sometimes with a woolen weft and sometimes with a tow or coarse linen weft instead.”
Source: http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=653.

I found the following description for venetian carpets at http://www.theweavery.com/historicalreproductions.asp

“Venetian carpet was the most popular rug choice in the first half of nineteenth century America. Its distinguishing characteristic is the brightly colored striping that occurs in the warp threads spaced so closely together that they actually cover the filler or weft.
“There is little evidence that these rugs were ever produced in Venice, but the name could have been associated with the reputation Venice's many dye houses had for their brightly colored fabrics.”

Venetian carpets belong to the European family of flat-woven of rugs and carpets. I found the following description at —
Carpet - 1. Types and techniques. 2. History., (i) Hand-knotted

Flat-woven refers to “rugs and carpets woven without a pile or raised surface texture have been made in all parts of the world and vary from the highly prized and richly adorned to the simplest and most basic of matting. Carpets can be woven using basic plain weave, with simple or complex patterns ranging from warp- or weft-faced stripes to intricate designs. Looms with three, four, six, and eight shafts give vast scope for pattern and surface texture on the warp or weft face; these range from simple twills, with all their variations of diaper and broken twills, to shadow weave, spot weave, honeycomb, block patterns and brocades.
“Warp-faced carpets and rugs, in which only the warp yarns are visible, are considered to be more hard-wearing, because warp yarns have generally tended to be stronger and more tightly spun. Examples include Bedouin saha or tent curtains made of goat hair, and Venetian carpets, first recorded in 1803, which had a striped worsted warp and a wool weft (by the end of the 19th century this was often replaced by jute). References to Venetian carpeting show that it was used for halls and stairs; it is known to have been made in Kidderminster, Yorkshire, and Scotland and had no known connection with Venice. List carpets, first recorded in 1747 and noted to be like an inferior version of the Venetian, were wiry, plain-weave coarse carpets in which the weft was made of selvages, then called lists, cut from other fabrics. Such carpets were made of cotton, with narrow, coloured stripes; seldom found in Britain, they were quite popular in America.”

The following two images are examples of venetian carpets.




I have not found specific references to Venetian carpet weaving in Donegal; in the early 1800s; however, it probably existed as a cottage industry. Donegal became world-famous as a carpet manufacturing center in the early twentieth century when Donegal Carpets was founded in Killybegs. “The company was founded in 1898 when Scottish textile manufacturer Alexander Morton established a hand-woven rug manufactory on the western coast of Ireland. Drawing on the talents inherent in a people who had worked with wool and weaving for generations, Morton’s rugs soon became known as "Donegals", following the oriental tradition of naming carpets after the village in which they were made.
“From the outset, the fame of Donegal Carpets spread throughout the world as the name became synonymous with fine craftsmanship in carpet manufacture. Donegal Carpets immediately created a niche in the market with our now-famous Arts & Crafts designs, commissioned from the drawing boards of contemporary notables such as C.F.A. Voysey, Walter Crane, Mackay Baillie Scott, and Jessie Newbery.” Source: http://www.donegalcarpets.eu/history.php
When Alexander McAdoo arrived in Philadelphia carpet manufacturing was a booming industry as noted in this excerpt from a book entitled MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1860; Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census, Under the Direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Edmunds, J.M.; United States Census Office.
“In Philadelphia and its vicinity, where the largest amount of carpeting is made, several peculiarities in the trade are noticeable, relating both to the character of the goods and the system of manufacture. The large New England manufactories are almost exclusively engaged in the production of super and extra fine carpets from wool and worsted materials, and chiefly by the aid of power-looms. In Philadelphia the product embraces ingrain and Venetian carpets of every quality known in the market, from damask Venetians, costing before the war $1 to $1 15 per yard, down to cotton and wool, and all-cotton carpets, sold for about 20 cents the yard. These are chiefly woven on hand-looms, of which, in 1857, there were at least 1,500 distributed among 100 manufacturers, the largest having 150 looms, one manufacturer only employing a few power-looms. Each hand-loom made about 4,320 yards annually, and the total product was about 6,480,000 yards, worth, at a low average of 40 cents per yard, $2,592,000 per annum. In addition, there were 560 looms engaged on rag and list carpets, of which 1,680,000 yards, worth, at an average of 30 cents, $504,000, were made annually. The average price of weaving ingrains was 9 cents a yard, and of rag carpets, 6 to 10 cents. The whole number of persons employed was about 3,130, whose annual wages was $821,000. The aggregate production of carpetings of all kinds was 8,160,000 yards, valued at $3,096,000 per annum. An English manufacturer, a few years since, stated that more yards of ingrain carpeting were made annually in Philadelphia than in all Great Britain. Improvements have been made and patented by the proprietors of the Bridesburg Machine Works, in that city, in the carpet-loom, which, in its latest form, carries 32 shuttles, and is capable of laying 16 different colors in the figure and as many in the ground of the carpet.”
I reviewed a number of pages of the 1860 census SW division of the 18th Ward (Fishtown) where Alexander and his family lived, and was amazed at the number of people employed as venetian and ingrain weavers.

I am pleased to share this research with you, and invite your comments.

Be well, do good work, and stay in touch. — Garrison Keillor