On America’s 250th, it seems apropos to highlight a rare and special piece in our inventory: a quilt of printed fabrics and crewelwork likely made in Connecticut towards the end of the 18th century.
This quilt exemplifies the masterful work of New England’s embroideresses and quilters, as well as their economy of materials in the years leading up to and following the American Revolution. Its squares contain six distinct block-printed wools and cottons—some divided further to make use of every scrap. At the center, the brown ground printed with meandering flowers and bands and the Indian-inspired calico illustrate the continued import of British products into the United States. The striped prints also echo the pattern and scale of woven silks from Europe that were popular for women’s dress during the 1790s.
But the wool embroidery depicting floral and fruit motifs on homespun linen are pure New England. The quiltmaker cleverly pieced this crewelwork from the remains of a woman’s gown of about the 1760s or 70s. The fantastical buds and blooms arranged in a half-drop repeat comprised the lower part of the skirt, with the strawberry motifs dotting the gown’s original hem. Most interestingly, the maker took pains to integrate the shaped fragments that were formerly the dress’s sleeve ruffles at top left; by the late 18th century, these had fallen out of fashion.
Found in Massachusetts, the quilt was associated with the family name Currier but no further provenance was recorded. Was the quilter the original wearer of the gown, or did she inherit it from a relative? We’ll never know, but her—or their—artistry lives on.
Quilt of crewelwork and printed fabrics, American (probably Connecticut), late 18th century. 89 1/2 x 87 1/2 in.
