Quilt, Worsted Wholecloth Backed with Overshot Coverlet

Date1780-1800; backing 1750-1780

MediumGlazed worsted, woolen, linen, silk marking stitches

DimensionsOverall (L x W): 99 x 85in. (251.5 x 215.9cm) Other (overshot selvedge width): 40in. (101.6cm) 6 running stitches per inch

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1986-140

DescriptionThis rectangular dark indigo blue quilt is made of glazed wool in a twill weave. The backing is an earlier overshot coverlet in gold wool and natural-color linen woven in a small-scale diamond pattern. The batting is dark wool, and the quilting thread is blue wool. The quilted design features two lines of feather crossing diagonally from corner to corner. At the center is a large, round flower. Smaller scale florals are in each quadrant. The ground quilting pattern is diagonal parallel lines. The coverlet used as backing is pieced out with patches of mustard-color woolen blanket fragments, one marked in blue silk with the initials P I (over) X. The edges of the face fabric are turned over the lining 3/4" and whip stitched into place.
Label TextBecause textiles were expensive, many eighteenth-century Americans altered, recycled, and reused their old clothing and textiles when they went out of fashion or became somewhat worn. This twill-woven glazed worsted quilt retains a beautiful quilted pattern despite being worn and fragile. However, this quilt is even more important for its reused backing, an old coverlet made of yellow wool and natural linen in a diamond-pattern overshot weave. Although many overshot coverlets woven with factory-spun cotton warps survive from the nineteenth century, only a handful of early linen-and-wool examples can be dated before 1800. The coverlet was too small to line the entire quilt, so the quilt maker pieced out the back of the quilt with fragments of a recycled mustard-color woolen blanket, one piece marked in blue silk with the original owner’s initials, PI.
MarkingsPI
X worked in blue silk marking stitches on one of the blanket fragments.
ProvenancePurchased from Sumpter T. Priddy III, Richmond, VA, 1986.