Ariel Grace Design - Custom Floorcloth Makers

One of the oldest existing floorcloths in the US (c 1848) resides at Melrose, a National Park location in Natchez, Mississippi. We were commissioned to replicate the original design and create a new floorcloth to cover and preserve the original one which is in Melrose's entry.

The completely original pattern features a classic repeating diamond array that contains a border with an Early American-style lozenge and honeycomb display, surrounding an organic medallion. The colorway is reversed on every other diamond.

We spent months working to create stencils that would allow us to produce a design that is extremely faithful to the original with all of its organic sensibility, including rough-edged lines and imperfect shapes. We went back and forth with the park personnel until we had nailed every detail. Eleven stencils were required to reproduce the design

All aspects of this project were interesting and challenging.

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