Quilt, Appliquéd Floral Wreath

Date1840-1850

Artist/Maker Fanny Butt

MediumPlain and printed cottons

Dimensions105 1/2" x 97 1/2" (268 x 248 cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2007.609.1

DescriptionThis is a rectangular quilt in a design of green and golden brown floral wreaths with angular shapes and edges, appliqued to a white ground. The quilt consists of 16 full and 4 half-blocks, which are separated by solid green sashing. On all four sides is a wide border of floral printed cotton in a design of flowers combining realistic and angular-abstract shapes, done in blue, direct green, and bright pink. It is quilted in 7-10 running stitches per inch through a thin batting to a white cotton backing fabric. Within the appliqued blocks, the quilting pattern follows the outline of the wreaths. The backing fabric was brought to the front to form a narrow edging.
Label TextFloral and vine wreaths were a popular appliquéd motif on quilts. This quilt consists of 16 full and four half blocks of green and golden brown floral wreaths with angular shapes and edges, similar to patterns known as President's Wreath and Martha Washington's Wreath. The blocks are divided by a bold solid green sashing. A wide printed cotton border of angular and abstract shapes completes the quilt. Found in Norfolk, Virginia, the quilt is said to have been created by Fanny Butt, a member of the well-known Butt family of that area. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation also owns an 1811 sampler created by the quilt maker's relative, Sarah Bruce Butt.
ProvenanceThe vendor from whom the quilt was purchased provided the following information: "My father, Andrew R. Denniger, bought this quilt in 1990 from two spinster sisters living in the Ghent area of Norfolk, Va. They were in their mid 90's. They told my father that the quilt has always been in their family and was made by their great grandmother whose name was Fanny Butt."