Description:
Wholecloth red, plain weave wool (tammy) quilt with a coarser white wool crepe backing, which has a symmetrical quilting pattern featuring a center medallion with four quarter circles (one in each corner), framed by a border filled in with smaller geometric shapes, which is quilted in red-dyed worsted 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. Geometric quilting patterns such as this example suggest an English, rather than American, origin; quilts with either silk or wool tops manufactured in England were imported into the colonies since the early 18th century, as evidenced by newspaper accounts. These earlier quilting designs were themselves influenced by earlier Indian or Persian design sources such as bed covers. As colonists began to make their own whole cloth quilts (often still with imported fabric), quilting designs changed to become more organic, though with hints of the previous formality. Linda Eaton, Director of Collections and Senior Curator of Textiles at the Winterthur Museum (May 14, 2011), suggests that although the quilting pattern is similar to English geometric patterns, the piecing of the face fabric suggests an American quilted construction. Professional quilters in England would have likely been working with whole or half selvage widths of cloth to make a wholecloth quilt; the strips of piecing suggest an American construction. 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 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 selvage width of the red wool tammy is about 25 1/4".
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.258 |
