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Quilted Petticoat

Date1770-1775

Maker Margaret Bleecker Ten Eyck

MediumSilk tabby, quilted to worsted twill, with thin woolen batting.

DimensionsOL: 39 1/2" Circumference of skirt 97" Waist 22 1/4". Textile widths: brown wool approx. 31" wide; striped wool 29" wide; silk approx 42" wide.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1995-191

DescriptionWoman's petticoat of pink tabby silk, quilted with running stitches to two different backings of glazed wool: lower 1/3 backed with solid brown twill; upper 2/3 backed with striped twill worsted in reds, cream, green and indigo blue. Petticoat is pleated at waist to linen tabby tapes. Center front box pleat, with 1" pleats directed to the side pocket slits; rear waist pleats are directed toward center back with a center inverted box pleat. Quilted design consists of border 16 " wide around hem, the motifs being pot-bellied two-handle cups or vases from which eminate scrolling vines, leaves, flowers (tulips, etc.) and fruit, all against a ground of quilted diagonal lines. Upper portion of petticoat quilted with 7/8" diamonds; top 5" unquilted. Thin natural-color woolen batting. Hem bound with pink silk ribbon, approximately 3/4" wide. Petticoat fastens at waist with tape ties at both sides.
Label TextPetticoat
Made by Margaret Bleecker Ten Eyck
New York, 1770-1775
Margaret Bleecker Ten Eyck (1755-1834) chose a traditional design of bulbous vases with curving handles, each sprouting coiling branches of tulips and rosette flowers. Although the pattern probably came from English prototypes, the mix of unmatched textiles on the back is suggestive of home quilting.
Technical Information:
Silk plain-woven face fabric
Wool fiber filling
Worsted wool twill and plain-woven backing fabrics
11 to 14 silk running stitches per inch
1995-191

ProvenanceAccording to family history, the petticoat was worn by Margaret Bleecker Ten Eyck, New York (1755-1834). Descended in Bleecker-Ten Eyck families through Margaret Bleecker Ten Eyck, who married Harmanus Ten Eyck of Albany in 1776. Old paper states: Margaret T. E. Wendell from Auntie Ten Eyck Xmas 1903 a dress given to me as an heirloom when I was married in 1846.

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