Name/Title
Towel, Wallhanging: New England Covered Bridges U218Description
A three-color silkscreen print on natural linen depicting six covered bridges located in five New England states; see images for photos of four of the six illustrated bridges. From top:
Across the Pemigawasset
Woodstock - New Hampshire
1878
Creamery Bridge over Whetstone Brook
Brattleboro - Vermont
1879
Greenfield, Mass. Pumping Station
Bridge on the Green River
1870
Bull’s Bridge over Housatonic
Kent - Gaylordsville Connecticut
1842
Gates Farm
Cambridge Vermont
Sunday River Bridge
North Bethel - Newry Maine
1870
This print appears in the brochures “Country Prints by Robert Darr Wert and Neighbors”, c.1963 and c.1966; see images.
A variant of this print with modified text is “Early American Covered Bridges”, in which geographic notations are omitted to give the print a broader appeal beyond New England; see images.
This is one of over sixty designs sold by Country Prints to Stevens Linen Associates of Dudley, Massachusetts, in January 1969. From that point onward, the designs were produced by Stevens with all reference to Robert Darr Wert and Country Prints removed. Many of these designs continued to be produced by Stevens throughout the 1970’s and some into the 1980’s.
In a memo from Fritz Kaufhold (Country Prints business manager) to Bob MacKay (Stonelea Mills/Stevens Linen Associates) dated February 12, 1969, Fritz notes this designs is a “good seller, but in New England only. U236, the adaptation for the rest of the country has been selling below average.”
This towel/wallhanging appears on a c.1965 promotional postcard for Bromley & Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, Country Prints’ New England wholesale representative to the gift trade.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1962Time Period
20th Century, Colonial RevivalPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaNotes
Top edge is a rod pocket to accept a dowel for hanging, lower edge is hemmed, sides are selvedges.Inscription/Signature/Marks
“© wert country prints”, lower left corner; “by hand on pure linen”, lower right corner.Dimensions
Height
30-3/4 inWidth
16-3/4 inMaterial
Unbleached Linen, Textile InkColor
Burnt Ochre, Brick Red, Black
