An American Indigo, Madder and White Hand-Woven Center-Seamed Wool and Cotton "Overshot" Coverlet, mid-19th c., in a geometric design with applied fringe, 73 in. x 76 in. Note: Fading and wear. Provenance: Acquired from the antiquarian Alex Raskin, Savannah, GA. Note: Over the last 30 years, a number of historians and archeologists have documented the presence of African construction, aesthetic, and cultural traditions in African American crafts. The practice of hand-weaving by enslaved Africans in America also follows this same historical trajectory. Interviews of former slaves conducted during the 1930s provide a rich narrative of hand-weaving in African American communities at the time of emancipation. Most examples of hand-woven coverlets created during the mid 19th century were constructed in a weaving technique called "overshot." With a cotton tabby weave acting as a ground or base cloth, overshot construction is based on a series of design blocks woven with a supplemental weft yarn. A centuries-old history of overshot construction has existed in many parts of West Africa. Stripe patterns in American coverlets in many ways mimic the patterned strips that make up West African hand-woven strip cloth, as seen in the present lot. This weaving technique, along with the knowledge to process raw cotton and dye stuffs, was brought to the Americas by skilled African artisans - who were enslaved by their captors to build all aspects of a New World. Special thanks to textile consultant Camille Ann Brewer for her assistance in this catalogue entry. Reference: Bolland, R., Bedaux, R.M. & Boser-Sarvaxévanis, R. Tellem textiles: archaeological finds from burial caves in Mali's Bandiagara Cliff. Amsterdam: Tropenmuseum/Royal Tropical Institute, 1991; Strickler, C. American woven coverlets. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, 1987; Windeknecht, Margaret B. Creative Overshot. Freeland, WA: HTH Publishers, 1978.