Blanket
Object number2024.25.1
Made byPossibly
Carmela Scarsella
(died 1950)
Datec. 1892
OriginMuro Lucano, Basilicata, Italy
MediumWool; Thread
Credit LineGift of Jack Shreve
DescriptionRectangular woven wool blanket. Dark brown and red/pink plaid blanket is constructed from three rectangular panels of slightly different sizes hand-sewn together using thick pink-tinted and off-white yarn thread. Repeated plaid pattern is wide brown herringbone line flanked by three thinner brown herringbone lines on either side; all on red/pink background. One long edge has off-white hand-stitching along the length; other three edges are unfinished.Historical NotesThis handmade wool blanket was used (and possibly made by) Carmela (née Galizia) Scarsella on the steamship journey she took from Italy in 1895. She was traveling to New Castle, Pennsylvania to marry James Scarsella, another Italian immigrant from the village of Muro Lucano in the region of Basilicata. The blanket was then used by members of Carmela's family until her death in 1950, when it was moved into storage. Shepherding was a common profession in Muro Lucano and Carmela's family owned a tenuta (farm). It was the loss of the farm due to drought and a series of poor harvests that necessitated the emigration of most of Carmela's siblings (the farm was later reclaimed by the family). The Galizia farm supported sheep, so it’s presumed that the wool for the blanket came from the sheep. Related person
James Scarsella
On View
Not on view
1968-2001
c. 1916
Capital China
