Description:
Quilt made of wholecloth red, plain weave wool that was originally glazed (tammy). The quilt is made up of three strips pieced together and quilted (6 stitches per inch) in red worsted thread with a diamond-grid center filled with triple, parallel lines and a three-sided border with triple parallel lines and teardrop shapes, and with two cutout corners to fit around bed posts; a ten-piece, cream-colored, cotton (warp) and wool (weft) plain weave, wool backing; and wool batting. The quilt is bound front to back and has mitred corners. In the 18th century, a plain weave wool with glaze was referred to as a tammy; a twill weave wool with glaze, a shalloon; a 4:1 broken twill weave (aka the shortest float satin weave), a calamanco; and a plain weave wool with no glaze was referred to as a camblet. These terms are found in Norwich, England, sample books. Wholecloth, wool quilts, named for their use of whole widths of fabric to construct the tops, were a common type of bedcovering made and used in New England during the 18th century. Quilts such as this example not only provided warmth, but also displayed the skill of the woman or women who stitched the pattern. Derived from England, New England wholecloth quilting patterns developed their own unique designs by the middle of the century, and appear much more frequently than imported versions. The wool face was probably originally glazed given the evidence of "lines" or concertina-like folding of the wool fabric into the press where it was subjected to extreme pressure and heat through the press boards. Cleaning eliminates the glaze, but the press folds remain. Linda Eaton, Director of collections and Senior Curator of textiles at the Winterthur Museum (May 14, 2011), notes wool glazing was probably not done in this country in the 18th century given current knowledge and that most evidence of glazed wool comes from England. Winterthur Museum has tested some glazed worsted fabrics, and the presence of an additonal substance such as gum has been detected in some samples suggesting that glazing may have occasionally required more than just heat and pressure of the press. While serving a decorative purpose, glazing might also have added some degree of protection for the face fabric against stains or soiling. Often, when the quilting thread was the same color as the face, the quilting could have been done from the reverse side to better see the stitches. This can be determined sometimes if the quilting stiches are slightly shorter on one side than on the other. Either linen or worsted thread was often used for quilting. Linen prefers a more aklaline environment, and when used with wool, tends to degrade; worsted thread with quilted wool textiles tends to last in good shape.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.118 |
