Description:
Quilted, rose glazed wool petticoat lined with a striped, plain weave wool in two shades of blues and cream in a striped pattern. From about 1710-1790, decorative petticoats were fashionable for wearing under an "open robe," a style of dress that is open across the center front of the skirt. The petticoat could be made to match the dress fabric, embroidered, or made of a contrasting solid color, in which case it was often a quilted silk or "calamanco," a worsted fabric that was "calendered" or pressed under hot metal plates, possibly with the addition of starch or wax to make it glossy. Many New England women purchased their quilted petticoats ready-made, imported from England while others made their own. Boston merchant Ambrose Vincent advertised "To be sold by Publick Vendue...Scots Plaids, Blanketing and Flannel, India Muzling, White and Brown Hollands, Quilted Silk Petticoats.." in the "Boston News-Letter" on Jan. 4, 1720. This example is typical of a New England-made quilted petticoat with a latticework pattern with diamond spaces quilted with small diamonds and four parallel flowers in the center, over a quilted scallop band, over a band of trailing flowers on a ground of narrow quilted diagonals around the border. Upon her death in 1737, Sarah Williams of Deerfield owned five quilted petticoats (each called simply a '"quilt" in her inventory, as was common in the period; quilts as we think of them today were often distinquished as "bed quilts"). At least some of Sarah's quilted petticoats were probably ready-made. They were of various fabrics: the silk and calico petticoats were the most valuable at 30 and 18 shillings respectively; the "shalloon" (an inexpensive twill-woven worsted) and linen petticoats were cheaper, but still substancial at 10 and 8 shillings; and the petticoat of "crape" (a silk or silk mixed with worsted fabric woven of over-twisted yarns that give it a mottled texture) was the cheapest, or perhaps the oldest and most worn, at 6 shillings. As early as the 1720s, quilted petticoats were an important component of many women's wardrobes. In addition to providing added warmth, the materials and quilting patterns they displayed served as decorative embellishment to the wearer's apparel. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the bulkiness of these kinds of petticoats fell out of favor as dress styles became streamlined. The selvage width of the pink wool face is at least 30 1/4" wide.
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