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American, Connecticut

Quilt top, 1885-1886

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

American

Title

Quilt top

Year

1885-1886

Medium

Silk, embroidered; paint

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • silk,
  • paint

Techniques

  • embroidery,
  • embroidering,
  • embroidered,
  • piecing,
  • patchwork,
  • appliqué (prefered spelling),
  • applique

Dimensions

Length: 130.8 cm (51 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Several signatures and dates: D.J. and A.J. McEwen... | Signatures: E.Julia Thompson, Lucy A Curtis, M. Louise Wilcoxon 1885, Katie E Hughes, Katie B. McEwen, D J & E J McEwen, Fanny L. McEwen 1886, S A Curtis, E Lounsbury (?) Farmington Conn, Fanny E Hemmon, Emily A Wilcox, Jennie E White 1885, H P & S A Folley, D J and A J McEwen, Grace Chatfield Oxford, William W Hughes, Emma W Northrup, Jessie M Laum (Loum?) 1886."Friends" embroidered at the bottom of one square.

Place

Connecticut

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Marion A. Sabol

Object Number

84.037.1

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Infinite Variety

June 17 - September 18, 2005

This piece, made by many different hands, illustrates some of the pleasures of crazy quilting. The makers discarded the rules of geometry and symmetry, instead layering color, texture, and pattern to create the design. Embellishing the surface with fancy silk embroidery stitches, narrow trims, paint, and beads added even more scope for individual creativity.

Crazy quilting became a fad in the late 19th century, fueled by the availability of plain and patterned American-made silk fabrics, competition within the silk thread industry, and the lessons learned from exposure to Japanese aesthetics, which valued asymmetry and spontaneity.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Quilt top with the accession number of 84.037.1. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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