Images(5)

Quilt, Pieced Framed Center Medallion

Dateca. 1840

Possibly by Mary Sophia Post Humphreys (1821 - 1885)

Possibly by Sophia Van Gieson Gould (1763 - 1858)

OriginAmerica, New Jersey, Passaic County

MediumPlain and printed cottons

DimensionsOH: 80" x OW: 93 1/2" (203.2 x 237.5cm)

Credit LineGift of Robert A. Humphreys

Object number2015.609.11

DescriptionThis is a large pieced quilt constructed in a framed center medallion format. The center square design consists of six 8-pointed stars alternating with blocks of a brown small floral print. Four concentric borders of a floral print with 8-pointed stars in corners alternate with borders of flying geese. A label attached to the quilt reads: "This Quilt was made by/ MARY SOPHIA GOULD/ when She was passed 80 year of age/ (About 200 years ago.)/ The Floral Strips was her Wedding Dress/ "Calico that cost $1.00 a yard."/ She died at the age of 95 years./ was my Great Great Grand Mother." The quilt is backed in a plain cream-colored cotton and the edges are finished in a 1/2" folded blue and white tape. It is quilted in 5-7 running stitches per inch in parallel lines.
Label TextThis quilt, made by Mary Sophia Gould Humphreys of Passaic, New Jersey, is reported to feature fabric from her wedding dress. A placard adhered to the quilt by the maker's grandson asserts that Mary finished this quilt just after her 80th birthday, approximately 60 years after her marriage. This quilt design, with its center medallion of eight-pointed stars, is more often seen in earlier appliqued quilts, indicating that it was likely designed at the start of her marriage in the 1840s. If what the placard says is true, Mary worked on, added to, or altered her quilt for six decades.
InscribedAn attached placard reads, "This Quilt was made by/ MARY SOPHIA GOULD/ when She was passed 80 year of age/ (About 200 years ago.)/ The Floral Strips was her Wedding Dress/ "Calico that cost $1.00 a yard."/ She died at the age of 95 years./ was my Great Great Grand Mother."
MarkingsNone
Provenanceca. 1840, made by Sophia van Giesen Gould [1763-1858] (Acquacknonk, NJ); 1858, passed by descent to Mary Sophia Post Humphreys [1821-1885] (Paterson, NJ); 1885-1915, passed by descent to Frederick W. Humphreys (Paterson, NJ); 1925, passed by descent to William Frederic Humphreys (Paterson, NJ); 1940, passed by descent to Herbert L. Humphreys (Paterson, NJ); 1972, passed by descent to Robert Humphreys (Ponte Vedre, FL); 2015-present, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)