Description:
Quilted blue, satin weave silk petticoat with a plaid waistband, which is typical of a New England-made quilted petticoat with its diamond or trellis grid pattern around the top 2/3's over a scrolling flower and vine design around the bottom 1/3, done in silk quilting thread. There is a brown, plain weave wood lining around the top and a dark blue, glazed twill weave worsted (shalloon) around the hem; silk binding around the hem edge that may be the original (almost completely deteriorated); and pleated all around into a repalced wasitband made of plaid wool. 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. 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 18th and early 19th centuries, the bulkiness of these kinds of petticoats fell out of favor as dress styles became streamlined.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+F.296 |
