Images(9)

Quilt, Redwork

DateDated 1889

Maker Various Makers

Owned by Reverend Roscoe Nelson (1861 - 1961)

Owned by Harriet Louise Cooke Nelson (1860 - 1948)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, New Haven

MediumCottons (fiber identification by eye)

DimensionsOverall: 86 7/8 × 78 1/2in. (220.7 × 199.4cm)

Credit LineGift of Catherine Theron in memory of Harriet Louise Cooke Nelson

Object number2023.609.2

DescriptionThis is a rectangular quilt composed of 42 white blocks, each measuring about 9 5/8 by 10 to 10 ¼ inches, embroidered with red outline stitches in designs of various flowers, children wearing clothing styles of late nineteenth century, winged chubby putti-like characters, abstract medallions, and animals. Each block has an individual embroidered signature (see signatures). One block in the lower right corner is dated 1889. The embroidered pieces are separated by red sashing bands about 2 ¾ inches wide. The quilt is hand-quilted with white running stitches at 7 to 8 stitches per inch in a pattern of four-petal flowers in the embroidered areas and cross hatching on the sashing strips. The edges are bound with straight-grain binding ¾ inches wide, folded in half over the edges. The plain-woven white cotton backing consists of two panels 40 inches wide selvage to selvage.
Label TextRedwork embroidery quilts were fashionable from about 1875 to 1930. Colorfast red cotton floss was used to embroider outlines of motifs onto white cotton or linen grounds, a combination that was especially popular for items that had to be washed, such as children’s quilts and bibs, table covers, and summer bed covers. While some quilters drew their own designs to be embroidered, ladies’ magazines and pattern companies also provided designs to be pounced or ironed onto white grounds.

This redwork quilt is composed of 42 embroidered blocks, each signed by a different person. The blocks include abstract medallions, various flowers, children wearing clothing styles of the late nineteenth century, animals, and winged chubby forest nymph characters. One block is dated 1889. The quilt descended in the family of the Reverend Roscoe Nelson and his wife Harriet Louise Cooke Nelson of Windsor, Connecticut. The Rev. Nelson was pastor of the First Congregational Church in Windsor for forty years. It's possible that the quilt was created by members of the First Church.

Art of the Quilter:
This quilt was probably made for Reverend Roscoe Nelson when he attended Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. Each of the 42 squares features a signature although the individuals’ connections to Nelson remain unknown. Several of the embroidered images can be found in J.F. Ingalls’ 1886 New Sample Book of Our Artistic Perforated Parchment Stamping Patterns. The three owls sitting on branches, the horse's head, and the large spider web are nearly identical to the published examples.
ProvenanceFrom the Reverend Roscoe Nelson (1861-1961) and Harriet Louise Cooke Nelson (1860-1948); to their son, Roscoe Winthrop Nelson (1895-1966); to his daughter Ruth King Nelson Theron (1925-1980) to her daughter, Catherine Theron who donated the quilt to CWF.