Quilt, Blue Copperplate-Printed Cotton Reversing to Pieced
Date1840-1850, with 1790-1800 backing
MediumPlain and printed cottons, cotton and linen stitching threads
DimensionsOH: 90" X OW: 103 3/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1966-80
DescriptionThis is a rectangular quilt consisting of a blue copperplate-printed tabby-woven cotton on one side and a pieced geometric and star pattern on the other side. The copperplate-printed cotton is an all-over design of birds on low trees surrounded by flowering vines with peacock feathers entwined in them. The reverse side is a variation of the Irish Chain pattern with white and printed squares. There is an eight-pointed star in each of the four corners. The quilt batting is cotton. The quilting pattern follows the piecing with an undulating vine and six-petal flowers, leaf shapes, and triangles in the border. The printed cotton is brought to the pieced side and folded over for a binding.Label TextTextile furnishings for tall-post bedsteads contained many yards of valuable material that could be reused when the hangings became outdated or damaged. This quilt maker reused old eighteenth-century bed curtains to back her pieced quilt made in the 1840s. The later pieced quilt is made in the pattern known as "Irish Chain."
MarkingsBlue threads in selvedges (1774-1811 woven cotten fabric)
ProvenanceNo known provenance other than vendor.
1850-1870, backed with ca. 1790 Copperplate
ca. 1850
1840-1860 (quilt)
Began in 1848; finished in 1935
1770-1780