English

Organization and symmetry, combined with the specific language of floral, vase, and bow motifs, produce neoclassical elegance as the reigning mood in this early 19th-century quilt. Consider the quilter's great effort to center a graceful bowknot or finely drawn floral bouquet in each alternate square. Sadly, the drab brown fabrics here, so much in fashion at the time, illustrate well the destructive effects of certain dyes and mordants.