Name: Antique Lemon Peel Quilt
Brand: naumhouse
SKU: NHRM0011
Price: 3900.0 GBP
Availability: InStock

A wonderful early quilting pattern is showcased on this graphic red and white quilt in excellent condition. Only two fabrics have been used to craft this piece, indicating that the maker was most probably from an affluent family, able to purchase sufficient fabric rather than using scrap pieces.

An exquisite piece for use as bedding or equally as impressive when hung on your wall.

Q8649 Red & White Lemon Peel / Rob Peter to Pay Paul c. 1870 73 x 88 (185.5 x 223.5 cm) Maine

A wonderful early pattern is showcased on this very graphic red and white quilt. Just two fabrics were used: a red and dark pink pattern, and solid white. This indicates the maker was probably from an affluent family as enough of this fabric was purchased to create this quilt rather than making use of “scrap” fabrics on hand.

Blocks measure 6 ½” square and are both hand and machine pieced. Curved pieces are more difficult to execute well so the creator of this quilt was an experienced seamstress. Quilting is stitched entirely by hand in echo outline and parallel lines throughout. The backing is white and the ½” binding is treadle machine topstitched in the same red fabric as used on the front. The end result is a harmonious and graphic piece of textile art.

This is a wonderful quilt for use on a bed or would be equally as beautiful hung on a wall. Professionally hand washed by Betsey and in excellent condition. Quilts are always sent on approval.

Specifications

Dimensions: 185 x 223.5 (cm)

Care & History

Professional cleaning recommended

Quilts in the late 17th and 18th centuries were more than just textiles, they were a decorative muscle flex to show off the talents of the makers. Women of this period, often precluded from the fine arts, could find expression in the making of functional items such as quilts. Quilts demonstrated skills in colour composition, graphic arrangement, and fine needlework; some of the designs were so elaborate that they could take years to produce.

Women often came together to help one other complete the quilts, eschewing a sense of individual authorship for the process of communal collaboration. They were treated as eternal gifts, cherished heirlooms to mark significant life events. Mothers would make quilts over the years to give to each child when they left home. In the 1800s, there was a custom for American young women to prove their maturity through quilting - they could only become engaged once they had stitched 12 quilt tops, and only after could they finish them with backing.

These objects, crafted with so much care and intention, documents of a historical past that no longer exists, exuberant studies in colour and form, precursors to our current world of pixelated optics and imbued with the hand of each maker, are true works of art.