Inventory Glossary
bedstead - the wooden or metal framework of a bed
bohea - A species of tea (this is an indian word) The name was given in the beginning of the 18th c. to the finest kinds of black tea; but the quality now known as Bohea is the lowest, being the last crop of the season (OED)
callimanco - (Calimanco) A worsted glossy cloth, brightly colored. This fabric was often highly decorated with stripes, birds, or flowers, as well as other subjects. Calimanco ws most often used for men's and women's clothing but also for upholstery fabric and curtains. This cloth was known to be produced in London and Norwich.
cambrick - " A fine white linen fabric in plain weave." This clothe is named for the French town of Cambray where it was produced. An inferior grade was also made in Dundalk, Ireland in the late eighteenth-century but cambric was not woven in England until the nineteenth-century. Cambric was used for handkerchiefs, veils, men's cravats, and church altarcloths.
chintz - Cloth of cotton made in India
counterpane - A coverlet for a bed or anything else, woven in squares
dimothy - Dimity(?) Dimity was originally woven in India and by the seventeenth-century in England, especially in Lancashire. "The term refers to any of a number of harness-loom patterned fabrics." Dimity was first made of cotton which later was often but not always combined with linen or silk. It was washable and sturdy. "Single wove" dimity came with or without nap. " Among varieties which were cut there was a flowered dimity of several patterns and two degrees of fineness (one called tufts), made on the treadle loom...another variety, also called striped dimity, was cotton flowered with several sorts of satin stripes..." Striped dimities were cheaper to produce because of a simpler weaving process and therefore cost less than other dimities. Dimities were used for petticoats, waistcoats, stockings. bedspreads, tablecloths and other similar uses.
ells - An ell is a measure of cloth containing a yard and a quarter
fender - an iron plate laid before the fire to hinder coals that fall from rolling forward to the floor.
firkins - a vessel containing nine gallons
hogshead gineva - hogshead any large vessel or a measure of liquid containing 50 gallons. Gineve (Geneva) A spirit distilled from grain and often flavored with the juice of juniper berries : it is made in Holland, and is hence also called Hollands, formerly Hollands Geneva. In the shortened form Gin, the name chiefly denotes a spirit of British manufacture, originally an imitation of the Dutch spirit, and usually flavored not with juniper but with some substitute; but the words are sometimes used indescriminantly. (OED)
holland check - Holland is a linen cloth originally produced in Holland and later generically applied to other linens. In the early colonial period all linen regardless of where it was woven, was sent to Harlem to be bleached. By 1758, this cloth was made in Manchester and Kent, England. It was often of very fine quality and used for clothing. "Ghentish holland was used for sheeting...Garlick, Gulick, Gulix or Guilick holland, very fine and white, was chiefly used for men's shirts" Holland was also tufted or striped. Check is "a fabric made of many fibers in plain weave with colored warp and weft stripes intersecting at right angles to form squares... may also be printed." Checks were woven primarily in Manchester and the surrounding area of linen, linen and cotton, or linen and wool. Red , blue, green, and tan were combined with white, stripes were sometimes added. This fabric was very popular in England and the colonies for household decoration or furnishings as well as for sailor's and children's clothing.
lasting - A durable kind of cloth (OED)
Oznabrigs - A course unbleached linen or hempen cloth first made in Osnabruck, Germany. It was commonly used for trousers, sacking, and bagging. Osnabrigs were used at Williamsburg to strengthen wallpaper. They are to have been made in brown, blue, and white although other colors were probably available. In the colonial period (1767) Osnabrig was woven in Germany, Lancashire, and Scotland.
pocket bottles - a bottle of glass or metal, somewhat flat in shape and of a size suitable to be carried in a pocket, intended to carry a supply of wine or other beverage for use on a journey; usually furnished with a screwtop, and when made of glass encased in leather.
stamped linen - linen whose surfaced is marked by a die or engraved plate which uses dye or ink to create a pattern
strokes for lye and vinegar containers, usually used for dry measure, whose measure varied in capacity by locality, but generally half a bushel or two pecks in size
tamys - an obsolete spelling of tammys - a fine worsted cloth of good quality, often with a glazed finish
ticking - a strong linen for bedding
tierce - a vessel containing a third of a pipe which is a vessel containing two hogsheads
warming pan - A long handled covered pan of metal (usually of brass) to contain live coals, etc. formerly in common use for warming beds.
worsted - A lightweight cloth made of long-staple combed wool yarn. The name was derived from Worsted near Norwich, a center for worsted weaving. The smooth, shiny fibers were suitable for embroidery and indeed were synonymous with the word crewel, or crewel yarn.
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