Bed cover of hand-knitted white cotton. Made from several panels together to make a spread large enough for a double bed. The design is worked in purl stitches which are slightly raised compared with the smooth background of knit stitches.

The central panel measures 63 inches x 51 inches and has four verses of the hymn ‘From Greenland’s Icy Mountains’ set out in arcs around a central medallion of an allegorical figure ‘TRUTH’, the band around which reads ‘HOW SHALL THEY HEAR WITHOUT A PREACHER, HOW SHALL THEY PREACH EXCEPT THEY BE SENT’. The words ‘HOLY BIBLE BOOK DIVINE, PRECIOUS TREASURE THOU ART MINE’ are on a smaller medallion above the central one, flanked by doves and angels with trumpets. A lion, a leopard, an elephant, tigers, and bunches of grapes fill the remaining spaces. Stripes with border designs of baskets of flowers, curls and single flowers are added in turn to the sides, the top and bottom, and again to the sides. The inner top border includes a monogram to two indistinct letters joined together, possibly IK or VR, and the border below the centre has the date 1855. The whole is finished with a border of cables and a fringe of knitted stitches which have been unravelled – this makes looped fringes of an even length. The material used is medium weight, undyed, 3-ply knitting cotton at a gauge of about 8 stitches to 1 inch. The size and complexity of the design – particularly the lettering worked in curved lines, against the construction of the knitting – suggest that it was made by a very experienced worker, or adapted from a printed design.

All measurements given vary due to the elasticity of the knitted fabric.