Images(6)

Petticoat, quilted

Date1735-1750, remade later

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumSilk, cotton, linen, wool

DimensionsOL 38 1/2 inches (at sides) Center front length 35 3/4 inches; center back length 37 1/2 inches Circumference 110 inches

Credit LineGift of The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

Object number2023-136

DescriptionWoman's quilted petticoat constructed from two ends of a small bed quilt, cut and seamed up both sides, made of pale green silk satin, backed or lined with a sepia floral and leaf blockprint and stuffed with wool. The petticoat is pleated toward the side openings from a double box pleat at center front and a narrow box pleat at center back. Narrow 3/4 inch-wide waistband of natural linen. Side openings, bound with matching green silk, extend down 7 1/2 inches. The quilted design consists of undulating leaflike feather vines, some curving around to terminate in tulips, fruit, and large leaves curving at the tips. The design is organized around a wide border, delineated by zig-zag figures, extending across the hem and extending up the sides at both front and back. Quilting is worked with pale green silk thread at 10 to 11 stitches per inch.

The condition is fragile and worn, with holes in the lining and abrasion on the silk.
Label TextThis petticoat is an excellent example of reuse and recycling, being constructed from two ends of an existing small bed quilt. Possibly as early as the late eighteenth century, the quilt was cut in half and the sides stitched together to form the side seams of the garment. The quilted designs relate to a group of quilted bed covers and petticoats made and used in the Philadelphia Quaker community during the eighteenth century, with designs attributed to a Quaker schoolteacher named Ann Marsh (1717-1797).
ProvenanceDates unknown, Mickle Fox and Emlen families of Philadelphia Quakers; dates unknown, Mrs Edward M. Cheston (Emily Read Fox) [b. 1887] (Ambler, PA); 1946, given to Valentine Museum (Richmond, VA); 2023, given to Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).