Description:
Wholecloth, green plain weave wool (tammy) quilt stitched with a center vase of leaves surrounded by leafy vines, and an undulating feather border on three sides and scattered floral sprays, and with two cutout corner to fit around bed posts; a four-piece, light brown, probably all wool backing; wool batting; and quilted in green-dyed worsted (possibly) thread. 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. Like the carving on a high chest or chair, or the architecture of a house, the quilted designs of New England's wholecloth woolen quilts have regional characteristics. Western Massachusetts and Vermont quilt patterns typically are large-scale and rather open, with large feather borders. A flower-filled vase was popular in neoclassical design and is often seen in other late 18th and early 19th century decorative and fine arts, including stuffed and quilted white cotton dressing table covers and bed quilts. 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. The backing appears to be wool, but should be analzed. In distinguishing wool and linen by eye, Linda Eaton usually associates a higher twist for wool fabrics to make thread (wool fabrics are shorter and need a higher degree of twist ot keep them tight) whereas linen thread starts out as a longer fiber and does not require as tight a twist ot make it usable thread. See a similar wholecloth quilt, HD F.011.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+92.008 |
