Quilt, Brown Copperplate-Printed Wholecloth
Date1780 (textile); quilted later
MediumCotton (fiber identification by microscope)
DimensionsOH: 80" × OW: 75" (203.2 × 190.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1975-258
DescriptionThis is a rectangular wholecloth quilt in a copperplate-printed design of birds perched on branches, flowers, feathers, and clusters of seashells with curving undulating branches. The textile is now sepia on off-white, probably originally purple. The front of the quilt consists of three panels seamed together and quilted with cotton running stitches to an off-white cotton backing in a design of parallel lines about 5/8 inch wide, turning to form a zig-zag or chevron quilting pattern. The edges are finished by turning the front textile to the back and hemming. The vertical repeat of the printed design is about 31 1/2 inches (as taken up in quilting). The quilting is worked with seven stitches per inch. The quilt has stains, holes, and patches.Label TextThis quilt consists of copperplate-printed textiles seamed together to form the decorative face, a type of quilt known as a "wholecloth". The quilt likely matched bed curtains of the same design. The printed textile was probably purple originally; due to the chemistry of the dyestuffs, purples of this period sometimes turn to brown or sepia with exposure to light and time.
ProvenanceElinor Merrell Antiques, New York, by sale to
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
ca. 1775, textile; quilted later
1840-1860 (quilt)
1845-1855
1780-1800
ca. 1850
1850-1870, backed with ca. 1790 Copperplate
1840-1855
