Images(2)

Quilted Petticoat

Date1780-1800

OriginEngland (probably)

MediumSilk, wool, cotton

DimensionsHem Circumference: 102 inches Overall length: 43 inches

Credit LineGift of the Family of Leucia B. Venable

Object number2023-114

DescriptionA cream-colored silk satin quilted petticoat, that is lined with a course plain woven glazed worsted wool. The petticoat is a very fine layer of batting in between the silk satin and worsted wool. The hem is faced on the interior with a narrow plain woven silk ribbon. The quilting pattern is made up of swags of vines around the lower third with alternating tulip and rose like flower that fill the middle. The middle third of the petticoat is filled with a single line of quilting swags that terminate in a three-leaf pattern design. The upper most portion of the petticoat is left plain. Each of the pocket slits are bound in the same plain woven silk tape as found along the hem. The petticoat has lost its original waistband and was replaced later with a cotton one, extending the overall length of the garment.

Construction History:
1) Initial Construction: 1780-1800
2) 1st remaking, replacing the original waistband and lengthening the petticoat with a plain very course cotton. This was entirely done by hand: Post 1800
Label TextQuilted petticoats were popular to wear among Virginians for not only warmth in the winter but also insulating from the heat in the summer. This example was probably made in England and worn in Prince Edward County, Virginia in the last quarter of the 18th century.
ProvenanceA surviving note with the petticoat notes that this garment was in Nathaniel Joseph Venable [ca.1790-1865] store. The petticoat in style dates more likely to his father, Nathaniel Venable [1754-1865].

Nathaniel Venable [1754-1851] (Prince Edward County, Virginia); by descent to his son Nathaniel Joseph Venable [ca. 1790-1865] (Prince Edward County, Virginia); by descent to his daughter Bettie Haskins Venable [1836-1876]; by descent to her daughter Sallie Elizabeth Garden [1868-1951]; by descent to her son Sidney Johnson Venable, Sr. [1894-1985]; by descent to his daughter Leucia [sic] Butler Venable; by descent to her niece Grace V. Jenchura; 2023-present, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)