Quilted Petticoat

Date1770-1775

OriginEngland or Europe, France; worn in America, Virginia

MediumSilk satin, linen tabby lining, cotton wadding

DimensionsOL: 37"; Circumference: 106"; border: 14 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Elizabeth Galt Welles.

Object number1978-76

DescriptionWoman's petticoat, missing waistband, of light blue silk satin quilted to natural linen with cotton batting and cording. The quilting pattern, worked with running stitches, consists of a lower border with deep scalloped edge above symmetrical shell or fan motifs worked in radiating and diagonal lines in cord quilting. The upper portion is a simple lozenge or diamond pattern. On the back of the petticoat is a stamped merchants' mark consisting of a figure 7 intersecting a G and K, all within a circle. One eight-inch pocket slit is stitched at top.
Label TextFamily tradition stated that this petticoat was ordered from London by Mrs. Gabriel Galt (Elizabeth Ege). The linen backing and cotton filling are unusual materials for a London-made petticoat, and suggest that it may have been made in a location other than England, perhaps in France or elsewhere, using a design that was copied from French Marseilles quilting. The existence of closely related stamped petticoats in the collections of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts suggests a common source or merchant yet to be identified.
MarkingsMerchant's mark (figure 7 intersecting G over K)
ProvenanceFamily tradition claims that the "Skirt (was) sent from London to Mrs. Gabriel Galt (nee Elizabeth Ege) before the Revolution." See paper tag pinned to garment, now in object folder. Worn in Virginia.