Bedspread c. 1938

This red-and-white bedspread was woven by Eldon Allen, born in 1855. The circles and squares that make up the bedspread’s geometric pattern carry with them a historical resonance. The circle, a potent symbol of totality and completion, echoes across cultures, from ancient sun disks to the Ouroboros—the snake eating its own tail—and the halo in religious iconography. The square, with its connotations of stability and groundedness, finds its roots in the ancient world, symbolizing the earth in contrast to the heavens, and representing order and structure. The interweaving of these forms is not merely decorative. Consider how mandalas—circular diagrams with square compartments—are used as meditative tools to represent the cosmos. These symbols resonate on a psychological level, engaging viewers in an almost subconscious dance between the known and the infinite, the stable and the fluid. As the wheel turns, these symbols persist, adapting and resurfacing in new forms, reminding us of the cyclical nature of cultural memory.