Description:
Wholecloth blue and white, resist-printed cotton and flax blend quilt with an elaborate, asymmetrical, repeating pattern of stylized flower pots, floral sprays, blue leaves, and patterned circles on a white ground arranged in vertical strips; knife edge; five-piece, plain-weave, cotton lining in a block-printed paisley design of red, green, blue, yellow and black; and cotton batting. The quilting pattern is done in in cotton or linen thread in diamond and triple-line grid patterns at 3 quilting stitches per inch. This late 18th century resist design may suggest an area of production in or near Rouen, a major center of resist-printing. This quilt's French origin is also suggested by the springyness and large amount of batting (probably cotton). The indigo-resist pattern (known in the 18th century as paste work) was made by applying wax, starch, or (later) a chemical paste in the desired pattern to white fabric. When the fabric was dipped into the indigo bath, the paste "resisted" the dye, leaving the "waxed" fabric white. Then the wax was reapplied within each design to make multiple shades of blue; when the cloth dipped again, those areas not covered by the wax became an even deeper blue.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Cotton Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.002 |
