Pieced Pillow Cover by Unknown Maker

Date1850-1860

MediumPrinted cottons with silk ties

DimensionsOverall: OW 17 1/4 x OH 22 3/4in. (43.8 x 57.8cm)

Credit LineBequest of Grace Hartshorn Westerfield

Object number1974.609.32

DescriptionThis is a pillow cover of rectangular format, the open end being stitched together for about 2" at top and bottom edges, leaving a narrowed opening for stuffing. One side is made up of rectangles, squares, and triangles in three printed cottons stitched together with three-sixteenth-inch seams. The reverse is made up of a single piece of printed cotton. On the primary side the printed cottons consist of one, a small overall design of branched maroon circles on yellow background; two, cherries on a shaded brown ground; and three, flower sprigs on a red ground. The overall print on the reverse shows camellias (?) in an eight-pointed star alternating with crosses, all in black, brown, dark pink or faded red, and white. At the open end of the pillow cover in the middle are two brown silk ties to close the case.

Label TextThis pillow cover illustrates repeating geometric patterns and the ready mixing of differently sized, colored, and scaled prints that characterize much mid-nineteenth-century pieced work. Rectangles, squares, and triangles of different printed cottons were stitched together with three-sixteenth-inch seams. Typical of patchwork pillow covers, only the visible surface of this example was pieced; the back was made from a single piece of printed cotton. Silk ties on the inside of the case held the pillow in place. Like most pillow covers of this date, it is not quilted. Patchwork, or pieced, pillow covers were popular with Pennsylvania Germans.
InscribedNo inscriptions.
MarkingsNio marks.
ProvenanceThe quilt is from the estate of Grace H. Westerfield of Camden, Maine.