Quilt No.756PHM - Powerhouse Museum

Powerhouse Museum
Owner: 
Powerhouse Museum
Location: 
NSW Sydney
Maker
Maker: 
Unknown
Made in
AUSTRALIA
Patterms
Wholecloth, Embroidered and/or Appliqued
Date: 
1851 - 1880
Description: 
"A quilt or coverlet of natural cotton sheeting with appliqueed motifs cut from a variety of crimson cotton damask. The quilt is hand sewn and nearly square and has a 12 cm border made from the same crimson damasks. The applique motifs consist of a range of hexagons, rosettes, flowers, hearts and stars that radiate outwards from a large centrally placed star shape. All are the same shade of crimson red which suggests they were dyed in the same dye pot. The fabrics are now quite thin and soft which suggests that the quilt, or the fabric it was made from, was well used." [PHM]
1960 x 1950mm
History: 

The quilt was a gift of the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1983. No earlier provenance information available. The quilt is used for research and exhibition purposes only.

Story: 

"Although the identity of the maker of the quilt is unknown, we can presume much about her (or him) from the choice of materials and the design. Because of the apparent reuse of the kind of damask fabrics used to make table cloths and napkins for the patches and the border, we can presume the maker was concerned to practice economy. From the clarity and exhuberance of the design, we can also reconstruct a maker who had an excellent design sense. Because the bold combination of red and white was particularly popular in Ireland in the 1800s, we may even suppose that the maker was Irish." [PHM]

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