The Competition
Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts is part of the Virginia Association of Museum’s “Virginia Collections Initiative” implemented in 2011. VAM has supported over 180 organizations since the program’s launch.
 
This coverlet in the Montgomery Museum’s collection was made by an enslaved woman in Montgomery County and is a Top 10 Honoree. We are now competing to win additional funding for its conservation care.
 
 
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Coverlet History
According to family lore, the bedcovering was woven by a slave in Montgomery County on the plantation of Catherine L. Montague Trigg for her step-daughter Catherine Trigg Mosby. Passed from generation to generation, the large overshot coverlet (ca.1850) remained in the family for more than 160 years. The pattern uniformity indicates the work of one weaver, probably a woman.

We know that in 1850, there were 6 slaves held on the Trigg farm, including two women, ages 16 and 41. In 1852 and 1853, eight slaves were sold from the farm, to settle Thomas Trigg’s estate, including four women: Amy, Maria, Jane, and Margaret. Another slave, a woman, 50 years old, continued to be owned by Catherine Montague Trigg in 1860, her name has not yet been discovered. Any of these women could have been a spinner, dyer, or weaver.

A time-consuming work of art, overshot coverlets are not signed or dated. Textiles made prior to the Civil War and attributed to enslaved women are rare in museum collections nationwide. The generational memory of the Trigg coverlet is an opportunity to enrich and enhance the story of enslaved women in Montgomery County via their skilled work.
On January 11, 2021   /   History