Quilt, Appliquéd by Unknown Maker

Date1860-1900

MediumPlain and printed cottons with wool embroidery threads

DimensionsOH: 84" x OW: 82"

Credit LineGift of Miriam R. Le Vin

Object number1974.609.3

DescriptionThis is an appliquéd quilt in a framed center medallion format. The five- inch outer border consists of red paisley fabric with a white zigzag pattern. A meandering inner border is made up of "Princess Feather" plumes of the same red paisley. Within the meandering border is a square formed of groups of three and four leaves of the same paisley on a vine. Within this square are four large white squares pieced together. On each square is a large rose made up of two printed cottons. Attached to each rose by a green wool thread are eight rosebuds, composed of red printed cottons, and green cotton, which matches the green cotton within the rose. Thirty-two similar buds are scattered around the quilt.
Note that the same vibrant and intricately patterned red paisley print is used for all of the applied swatches except the central four roses and the foliage jackets from which the numerous scattered buds emerge. The result is a bedcover with unusual cohesiveness for one with such varied appliqué work.

Seven quilting stitches per inch were worked in an overall design of two-inch squares set on the diagonal. The central blocks and three separate borders are all pieced together, and the edge binding consists of strips of the predominant paisley fabric.

The backing is made up of two different small scale printed cottons; four unequal pieces of a red and black on white print form a central square, surrounded by variously sized strips of a red on white print.

Label TextThe unknown maker of this quilt combined several different patterns, a zigzag, rosebuds, and an undulating vine of "Princess Feather" plumes to create a bedcover with unusual cohesiveness for one with such varied appliqué work. A vibrant and intricately patterned red paisley print was used for most of the applied swatches. The topknots and arrow-like stems of the scattered buds were created with embroidered wool threads. The bedcover is quilted in a simple diamond pattern.
ProvenanceNothing is known of the quilt's ownership and history prior to the donor.