Images(3)

Quilted Petticoat

Date1750-1775, altered later

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumSilk, wool, wool batting

DimensionsCircumference 104"; Ht 36 ¼"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2009-43,1

DescriptionWoman's quilted petticoat (with waistband missing), made of blue silk lined with dark blue glazed worsted wool and woolen batting. The petticoat is quilted with 10 to 11 running stitches per inch in a design that includes a large two-handled vase sprouting large-scale flowers and leaves in a symmetrical format. Other flowers and leaves fill out the border. The upper grid is stitched in diamonds formed by double lines. The petticoat is initialed in cross stitches on the backing "I L P". Several panels appear to have been removed from the petticoat, interrupting the design.
Label TextThis hand-quilted petticoat was made by a member of Pennock Family, possibly Mary Franklin (Mrs. Caspar) Wistar (1736-1804). It may have been worn at the wedding of her daughter Sarah to George Pennock in 1790 and handed down to Sarah's daughter, Isabella L. Pennock (1795-1848). Isabella's initials I. L. P. are cross-stitched on the back of the petticoat, and may have been added at the time the petticoat was handed down to her.
InscribedI. L. P. in cross stitch
ProvenanceMade by a member of Pennock Family, possibly Mary Franklin (Mrs. Caspar) Wistar, b. 1736-1804. Possibly worn at wedding of her daughter Sarah to George Pennock in 1790 and handed down to Sarah's daughter, Isabella L. Pennock. (1795-1848)