Late 19th-Century American Crazy Quilt

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On offer is an American crazy quilt dated 1885, the time of crazy quilts’ peak popularity. The 1876 Centennial Exposition … Read more On offer is an American crazy quilt dated 1885, the time of crazy quilts’ peak popularity. The 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the nation’s growing textile industry—with its array of new, fancy fabrics due to industrialization—combined to generate even greater interest.
Reflecting a Victorian definition of “crazy,” these quilts were formed by sticking together irregularly shaped pieces of fabric in a seemingly haphazard, asymmetrical design, often within larger blocks like the nine in this work. As was typical, a variety of luxurious fabrics, such as silk, velvet, satin, and cotton, possibly pieced together from household scraps or purchased in kits, comprise this work. Ultimately the finished works were to be used as bed covers or proudly displayed decorative toppers.
But this one is personal. Aside from the elegant stitches piecing all the pieces together, here and there are embroidered or appliqued motifs as if to record special moments in a life. . There’s the heart, of course, but also a fish, a house, stars, a butterfly, even a high-button shoe--and notably, several sets of initials. No, you won’t find this one at the mall.
Maker’s mark: non-existent See less