Quilted Petticoat

Date1760-1780

Medium(All Materials Identified by Microscope) Silk Tabby (Exterior); Glazed Worsted (Back); Woolen Batting; Silk Thread (Quilting Stitches and Construction); Silk Tape (Waistband)

DimensionsWaist: 25"; Length: 39"

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Cora Ginsburg

Object number1986-55

DescriptionWoman's petticoat of thin, light blue-green tabby woven silk, quilted in running stitches to cream worsted back, with blue-dyed wool batting. Design consists of scalloped swags, sawtooth borders, and angular flowers and tassels. Pleated to original silk tape waistband, open at either side in pocket slits. Box pleat at center front; pleats turn toward back, where they meet in reverse box pleat.
Label TextBecause of remodeling and wear, most petticoats have lost their original waistbands and pleat patterns. The few petticoats, such as this one, that retain their original waistbands, have their pleats directed toward the pocket slits from a box pleat at center front and an inverted pleat at center back. Despite its very fragile condition, this eighteenth-century petticoat stands as an important document of original construction.