Quilt, Indigo Resist-Printed Wholecloth

Date1750-1800

OriginGreat Britain (probably) (indigo resist textile)

MediumCotton

Dimensions88 1/2" L X 78" W

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973-403

DescriptionThis is a rectangular whole cloth quilt of indigo resist, or "paste print". The design consists of a half-drop repeat of peacocks, pineapples, pomegranates, nuts and flowers with other foliage block-printed and resist dyed in two shades of indigo on white plain-woven cotton. The indigo resist face fabric is quilted to panels and smaller pieces of white plain-woven cottons through cotton batting. The quilting is worked in 5 to 7 cotton running stitches per inch in a pattern of parallel zig-zags forming large asymmetrical diamonds. The backing is brought to the front and stitched down to form a 1/4-inch edging. The resist textile measures about 39 inches wide from selvage to selvage. The quilt consists of two panels of selvage-width resist pieced out with smaller rectangles at the top.
Label TextThis quilt is made of large panels of floral and bird textiles patterned in the technique of indigo resist. In this example the resist material is block-printed onto the textile, which is then dyed in an indigo vat. For the areas intended to remain light blue, additional resist material was apparently applied before further dippings in the indigo vat, which created the darker blue color. The quilting and white cotton backing probably date later than the eighteenth-century textile on the front.
ProvenanceCora Ginsburg, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, by sale to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.