Quilted Petticoat Fragment

Date1750-1780

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumBlue silk satin backed with dark blue glazed wool with wool batting.

Dimensions42 ½" H X 64" Wide

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2009-43,2

DescriptionPetticoat fragment without waistband, made of blue silk satin lined with darker blue glazed wool. Quilted along border in floral pattern with scallops in the upper portion. Has one pocket slit. Paper tag reads "Quilted wedding skirts-Sarah Pennock-1790 Great grandmother of Caroline & Casper Wistar Miller"
Label TextThis silk and wool petticoat fragment, once a full woman's skirt, was hand quilted by a member of Pennock family. A paper tag stitched to the petticoat reads, "Quilted wedding skirts-Sarah Pennock-1790 Great grandmother of Caroline & Casper Wistar Miller." Based on the history in the tag, the maker may have been Sarah Wistar Pennock (1770-1845), who was married in 1790, or her mother Mary Franklin Wistar (Mrs. Caspar, 1736-1804). The petticoat would have been old-fashioned by the time of Sarah Wistar's wedding in 1790.
InscribedPaper tag: "Quilted wedding skirts-Sarah Pennock-1790 Great grandmother of Caroline & Casper Wistar Miller"
ProvenanceMade by a member of Pennock family, possibly the mother of Sarah Wistar Pennock (1770-1845), who was married 1790. Sarah's mother was Mary Franklin Wistar (Mrs. Caspar) b. 1736-1804.