Quilt, Cord Worked

Date1730-1750

Owned by Caroline FitzGerald King (1754 - 1823)

OriginEngland or Ireland

MediumCotton face, linen lining, linen thread (fiber identification by microscope in textile lab)

DimensionsOW: 94" x OH: 101"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1952-668

DescriptionThis is a white cotton bed quilt stitched in cord quilting technique. The design of the bed cover features a large octagonal center medallion in which a two-handle vase, sitting atop a mound, holds an arrangement of tulips, iris, buds and leaves. Two symmetrically arranged garlands of flowers surround the vase on two sides. Outlining the octagonal center is a border of small rosettes in cartouches alternating with larger four-petal flowers. This same design borders the outer edges of the quilt. The ground between the inner and outer bordered is worked in a pattern of ogival compartments formed of scrolls and trefoils. Within each compartment is a naturalistic flower with stem and leaves, including tulips, daffodils, primroses, and carnations.

Label TextThe center of this white corded quilt features a large vase of flowers standing on a mound and enclosed in an octagonal frame. The design echoes the widespread fashion for floral still-life paintings and prints from the late seventeenth century into the first half of the eighteenth century. Similar motifs appear in many decorative arts.

The quilt was constructed in England or Ireland using a cord-quilting technique. Two layers of white textiles, a fine cotton face and coarser linen backing, were quilted in channels with linen running stitches and then given dimension by drawing cotton cords through the channels from the back. The vase of flowers in the center medallion is fully corded though the remainder of the quilt is more sparsely corded in design areas only.

The quilt descended from the 2nd Earl of Kingston, Robert King (1754–1799), and his wife, Caroline FitzGerald King (1754–1823). Based on its apparent date, the quilt must have been handed down from an earlier member of the FitzGerald or King family. It eventually descended to Mr. and Mrs. William King, who sold it to Colonial Williamsburg through the auspices of Doris Langley Moore in 1952. Colonial Williamsburg also purchased other textiles once used by the countess, including linen sheets and napkins bearing her cross-stitched mark CK under a coronet.

The photograph was done with back lighting to show the corded design as shadows.
ProvenanceFrom the collection of Mr. and Mrs. William King. Mr. King (Keeper of Porcelains and Ceramics, British Museum) is a descendant of the Earl of Lovelace. This coverlet belonged to his great- great-grandmother, the Baroness Caroline King. Many of the items purchased with the quilt bear her monogram with coronet.