Images(7)

Quilted Petticoat

Date1755 (dated)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Connecticut River Valley

MediumSilk tabby, quilted to worsted tabby backing, with woolen batting; linen tabby waistband.

DimensionsOL: 39 1/2" Waist 24 1/4" Circumference 106"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1994-88

DescriptionWoman's petticoat of pale peach silk, quilted to bright yellow worsted backing with woolen batting. Full skirt, 106" in circumference, pleated to 5/8" wide linen waist bands, with two pocket slits at sides, each 9 1/2" long and bound with silk ribbon. Lower third of skirt is quilted in a pattern of 3" diamonds, each filled with a motif, such as a flower, animal, fish, turtle, snake, or bird. Center front of petticoat has coat of arms, lion and unicorn, Adam and Eve, sun, moon, and stars. The upper third is quilted in smaller diamonds without fillings, and the top 3 1/2 inches remain unquilted. Stitches include running stitch and spaced or half-back stitch. One panel at center back is a different silk, yellow in color, with small patch of striped silk at top.
Label TextPetticoat
Made by S. W.
Connecticut River Valley, 1755
The unidentified maker with the initials S. W. organized the usually bold flora and fauna into a small diamond grid in this variation of the Connecticut River Valley style of quilting. She stitched her initials in two diamonds above a crude variation of the British lion and unicorn coat of arms. Above the initials, Adam and Eve face each other across the diamond that holds the date 1755. The Biblical figures of Adam and Eve were popular motifs on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century needlework samplers.
Technical Information:
Silk ribbed weave face fabric
Wool fiber filling
Worsted wool plain-woven backing
21 to 22 silk half backstitches in design motifs; 11 to 15 silk running stitches in cross hatching
1994-88

Markings"S W" and "1755" quilted into the center front, lower 1/3.

Exhibition(s)