IQSC # 2006.014.001
Probably made in the United Kingdom.
Embroidery framed by piecework: a design option in 1812.
This bedcover is on display in the Elegant Geometry exhibit at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum right now. For an all-over view click here:
"Sarah Woodhouse's
Work Dec 23
1799"
Center of a quilt offered by dealer Maureen Morris
Click here to see more in her online store:
http://www.maureenmorris.com/catalogue_category.asp?cat=Miscellaneous
One basic look in the early 19th century was simple print borders of what they might call "sprigged muslin" framing an embroided center. These quilts might be British or American as the style seems to have been popular on either side of the Atlantic. One guesses the format was a useful finish for an old piece of schoolgirl needlework, a reason there is often a discrepancy between the date on the embroidery and the age of the later cotton prints surrounding it.
Spreads with a print border framing old-fashioned embroidery
The 1800-1820 period with so much new technology in the textile world marked the beginning of fast-changing fashion. But adding some chintz or patchwork to an embroidered piece could only bring it so far. The scattered floral designs above would have been unfashionable by 1810, indicating these might be older bedhangings adapted for coverlets. The print frames seem like an afterthought, an attempt to bring an old embroidered spread up-to-date.
"6 x 8 = 48 Dear Aunt, your quilt is out of date."
Lesson from Marmaduke Multiply in the 1830s
Of course, the embroidery took awhile to finish. Don't you just hate it when fashion changes and you aren't done yet.
Dated 1772
Scattered florals in Jacobean style, crewel work.
The height of fashion with an earlier generation
Collection of the Brooklyn Museum
These two marvelous spreads would look hopelessly old-fashioned by 1812.
The embroidered center in the IQSC quilt at the top is dated 1734.
The detail shows that the embroidery on all of these is what is called filled embroidery rather than the outline embroidery that became popular late in the 19th century.
See three embroidered spreads from the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
See the embroidered framed quilt at Jan Whitlock's online shop by clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom row.
Martha Soule has two blue and white quilts in the Smithsonian
The blue and white with chintz border is in the Quilt Index. Click here:
And more from the Quilt Index in the collection of the Museum of the Daughters of the American Revolution
1 comment:
Perfect timing! I planned to include embroidery on my 1812 quilt! Thank you for all the information! Lynette
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