Quote Originally Posted by xman View Post
I don't have much left, but I will ask if we can see the two 'tears' just off the pivot point at the top and bottom of the image in post #1. Also, what do we know about why 13" wide cloths were woven? What were they used for?
The fact that the cloth may have some damage is not surprising given its age. Given that it is in a museum and they don't know much about it there is little benefit in speculating as to the cause because it's just as likely to be wrong.

Why 13", now there's a question. I've only once come across a similar width piece and that was much older than this so I don't think they are related so to speak. Clear, being off-set suggests that the pattern and therefore presumably the cloth was intended/had the potential to be joined and so could have been 26". I have to admit I'm stumped by the width given the fact that 19-28" cloth was the norm for the period that this is likely to date from. The fact that cloth could be joined does not mean that it always would have been, as in this case, and we have to realise that any decorated cloth would have been regarded as special by many people because of the additional cost over plain cloth and the fact that this appears to have been a purely decorative piece as opposed to something functional.

Forget going down the who owned it and why line and consider the date and who wove it. Bigger than a big clue