Images(4)

Quilt, Indigo Resist Printed

Date1750-1770

OriginAmerica, New York

MediumCotton, linen

DimensionsOL: 46 1/2"; OW: 36 1/2" Width of face fabric (indigo resist) at least 37 3/4" (selvages not visible) Width of block-printed backing, at least 37 3/4" (selvages not visible) Block repeat size 8 1/4 w x 9 1/2" h (as quilted, fabric would be slightly wider if not quilted) Thread count of face fabric (indigo resist): 46 to 48 warps X 39 to 42 weft threads per inch.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1955-175

DescriptionSmall rectangular quilt, probably for crib, of indigo blue and white cotton printed in the resist ("paste work") technique in two shades of blue in a large pattern of scrolling stems bearing pomegranates, flowers, and feathery leaves. The backing of white cotton is block-printed in China blue in a design of landscapes with towers and houses framed in a cartouche of scrolls and flowers surrounded by small, scattered medallions of flower sprays against fish-scale background resembling stitches. Edges are turned inward and stitched close to edge. The running-stitched quilting design consists of a central circular medallion surrounded by fanlike shapes.
Label TextOne side of this quilt has a bold floral design in two shades of indigo blue on white. Similar white-ground indigo resists have often been attributed to New York printers, as numerous examples have been found there. Indeed, this quilt descended in the Van Rensselaer family from Albany, New York. The existence of a similar indigo-resist yardage carrying a British excise stamp from 1766 appeared to suggest that at least some of the indigo-resist textiles were British made. Further research suggests that the stamp may have referred to foreign, not English, calicoes. According to one theory, the stamp referred to cotton-ground textiles woven in India and exported as white yardage to be printed in England or elsewhere. Other scholars believe the indigo resists in this group could have been printed in India.

The reverse of the quilt has a China blue block-printed design of rococo ornaments enclosing castles and flowers on a background of scalloped dots that suggest quilting. Despite the stitchlike quality of the design, the quilter did not “follow the dots” on the backing. Instead, he or she stitched a central roundel, quarter rounds in the interior corners, and fans, ignoring the textile patterns entirely. The textiles and batting are cotton, quilted with linen thread.
Provenance?-1948, Susan Van Rensselaer Dayton (b.1866); 1948-1955, given to the Albany Institute of History and Art (Albany, NY); 1955 sold through [Thomas D. & Constance R. Williams, Litchfield, CT]; 1955-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)