Quilt, Pieced with Earlier Stamped Backing

Date1800-1830 (back); 1860-1880 (piecing)

OriginAmerica, North Carolina (probably)

MediumPlain cottons; stamped cotton; cotton filling

Dimensions89" H X 80 1/2" W

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1982-172

DescriptionRectangular quilt pieced from orange-yellow, blue, and brown cottons, backed with an earlier stamped cotton counterpane, and quilted with running stitches in fan pattern through cotton batting. The pieced side has 56 squares set on point, pieced with blues and browns from diamonds and squares to form a square within diamond design; the pieced blocks alternate with bright orange-yellow squares. The back is a stamped or block-printed panel in a design of eagles and medallions. The stamped panel consists of three widths of textile, seamed before printing. The block-printed panel is pieced out with indigo solid and checked cottons to make it large enough to back the quilt. Quilted with white and dark brown running stitches in a fan pattern using long running stitches. Bound with olive green cotton straight-grain binding.
Label TextOn one side, this colorful quilt consists of fifty-six squares set on point, each pieced from squares and triangles of blue and brown cottons and alternating with cotton in a bright orange-yellow color sometimes referred to as “cheddar.” The quilting is worked with white and dark-brown running stitches in a concentric fan pattern, and the quilt is finished with straight-grain binding. Although the quilt maker must have been proud of her newly fashionable pieced quilt with its bright colors, the reused backing consisting of an old printed bedcover is of considerably more interest to scholars today.
Examples of early American block printing are rare. The printed counterpane that survives as the quilt’s backing reflects the patriotism of early nineteenth-century Americans in its use of the country’s national symbol—spread eagles in three different sizes—alternating with starlike medallions. The printing is crude, unlike that of the sophisticated imported textiles available at the time, yet the printer assembled smaller printing blocks in a creative way to make a one-of-a-kind bedcover for his client. The ground textile consists of three fabric widths, seamed before printing. Because the printed counterpane was slightly too small to back the finished quilt, the maker added plain and checked cotton strips to the edges.
The person who sold the quilt to Colonial Williamsburg acquired it from a dealer, who had in turn purchased it from an unnamed ninety-three-year-old woman living in Greensboro, North Carolina.
ProvenanceAcquired by vendor from a dealer who had purchased the quilt from a 93-year-old woman in Greensboro, North Carolina.