Linen cloth, such as this Off White, Blue, Yellow, Orange, & Indigo Checked Linen, was woven of flax fiber in many grades and weaves. Used in every aspect of living, from clothing, to household needs, to furnishings, to the shroud made for the corpse, linen was so common that a tax was proposed as a source of easy revenue on the coarser sorts being imported into the US towards the end of the 18th century.
The term “checked” in the 18th century referred to any number of patterns woven or printed that intersected at right angles. Checked linens were used for a variety of purposes including aprons, shirts, children’s clothing, trousers, and linings, as well as many household items such as toweling, bed hangings, and chair coverings. Descriptions of self-liberated individuals and other contemporary writings occasionally call out other garments such as a "cross bar gown" or check shortgown or jacket.
The color combination and style of this linen is not one we have seen in our research of linen checks, therefore we feel it would be better suited to an 1840's onwards project.
