Description:
Woman's quilted petticoat, made of up of five selvage-width panels, each 20.5" wide. Each selvage has several blueish-green colored (warp) threads woven in. The petticoat is made with a fashion fabric of off-white satin weave silk (a 4:1 broken twill), and backed with a loosely woven, plain weave matching unglazed wool (tammy or camblet). The all-over quilted design has a density of 11 stitches per inch. The very top of the satin portion of the petticoat is unquilted, which would have facilitated the original construction for wearing gathered or pleated into a waistband), as well as made any lengthening or shortening easier (both done at the waist rather than hem). The upper half of the garment is then quilted in a diamond or trellis pattern made from pairs of parallel lines. The bottom half of the garment is quilted in a meandering floral and foliate design, set against a background of diagonally-quilted lines (lower left to upper right), spaced 1/4" apart. Several actual flowers are represented in the hem design, familiar to needlework as well as quilting, including tulips, sunflowers, and Tudor roses. Most flowers are repeated twice across the 102" hem circumference. The satin panels (five selvage widths of the silk) were first joined, and backed with wadding and backing fabric, before being quilted. Besides adding warmth, quilted petticoats added fashionable volume to gown skirts. There is significant wear on the hem. The very top of the petticoat (the waistband) has been replaced.
Label Text:
Quilted petticoats were a popular and informal item of women’s dress. Frequently worn out of doors, they provided warmth, visual interest, and volume to support the gown skirts under which they were worn. This example could have been made in the colonies from imported silk, or imported as five pre-quilted, flat panels that were later stitched together with an added waistband.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2014.10 |
