Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Topic: Quilts

1800 - 1825 "Seaweed" Print Pieced Quilt

The center of this quilt is pieced with two lengths of a "seaweed” motif roller-printed cotton, edged on either side by a 3 ¼-inch bias strip of the same fabric.
Description
The center of this quilt is pieced with two lengths of a "seaweed” motif roller-printed cotton, edged on either side by a 3 ¼-inch bias strip of the same fabric. Small “seaweed” and “coral” patterns were popular throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, perhaps related to the fashion for “pressing seaweed” as a keepsake of a visit to the seaside. A second roller-printed cotton is used for the 19-inch side and bottom borders, and a roller-printed stripe is used for the 5 ½-inch top border. The lining is pieced with various sizes of plain-woven ivory cotton. Quilted 7 stitches per inch. No separate binding, the front and lining are turned in and sewn with running stitch. Mainly two contrasting printed cottons were effectively used for this example of early 19th century quilting.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1825
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17337.000
catalog number
T17337.000
accession number
321804

1920 - 1930 Bertha Bork's Pieced Comfort

Bertha Bork made this pieced and tied comfort for her grand-daughter, Betty Jane Meggers. She machine pieced 25 blocks in a variation of the “Pride of Holland” pattern for the quilt top. It is wool-filled and tied with multi-colored wool yarns.
Description
Bertha Bork made this pieced and tied comfort for her grand-daughter, Betty Jane Meggers. She machine pieced 25 blocks in a variation of the “Pride of Holland” pattern for the quilt top. It is wool-filled and tied with multi-colored wool yarns. A colorful cotton paisley lining adds to this bright and lively tied quilt or comfort.
Bertha Bork was born in Pomerania, Germany in 1866. She married John Meggers and emigrated about 1872 to Clintonville, Wisconsin. They farmed and raised two children, William Frederick and Clara. William (1888-1966) was a well-known physicist. The quilt was made for his daughter, Betty (1921-2012), who was a noted archeologist.
Bertha divorced in 1910 and married Peter Monty. She died in 1941 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Clintonville, Wisconsin.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920-1930
maker
Bork, Bertha
ID Number
TE.T17157
catalog number
T17157.000
accession number
314637

1840 - 1860 Rachel Burr Corwin's "Variable Star" Quilt

This “Variable Star” quilt, quite well worn, was found inside another quilt (TE*T07116.00A) in the Collection. Rachel Burr Corwin of Middle Hope in Orange County, New York, fashioned this quilt alternating 8-inch pieced blocks with 8-inch floral, roller-printed cotton squares.
Description
This “Variable Star” quilt, quite well worn, was found inside another quilt (TE*T07116.00A) in the Collection. Rachel Burr Corwin of Middle Hope in Orange County, New York, fashioned this quilt alternating 8-inch pieced blocks with 8-inch floral, roller-printed cotton squares. The same floral print was used for the 7-inch borders. The lining, plain-weave cotton, is plate-printed in blue with long-tailed birds, small birds, peonies and other flowers, a late 18th-century design. The quilting, 5-6 stitches per inch, consists of diagonal lines ¾-inch apart in opposite directions on alternate blocks.
Rachel Burr, daughter of Samuel Burr and Sibyl Scudder Burr of Massachusetts, was born March 3, 1788. She married Samuel Corwin of Orange County, New York, October 14, 1809. They had four children. Needlework examples by one of their daughters, Celia, are also in the Collection. Rachel Burr Corwin died March 14, 1849, in Orange County, New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
Corwin, Rachel Burr
ID Number
TE.T07116.00B
accession number
121578
catalog number
T07116B

1850 - 1875 Jane W. P. McHenry's "Tulip" Appliqued Quilt

An inked inscription on the lining of Jane’s quilt states, “Jennie C. McHenry from her Mother.” This quilt and several others were donated to the Collection by Miss G. Ruth McHenry, Jane’s granddaughter. It was given to her by her aunt, Kate (Catherine) Price McHenry.
Description
An inked inscription on the lining of Jane’s quilt states, “Jennie C. McHenry from her Mother.” This quilt and several others were donated to the Collection by Miss G. Ruth McHenry, Jane’s granddaughter. It was given to her by her aunt, Kate (Catherine) Price McHenry. Catherine Price McHenry was the daughter of Jane Winter Price, who made this quilt.
Twelve 27-inch blocks were each appliquéd with a large red tulip with buds and dark green leaves and stems. Chains of dark green pointed ovals cover the joining seams of the blocks. The appliqué on this quilt is achieved using blind-stitching. The more often used whip-stitch was used only for the end of the stems and the joining of the buds to the stems. Floral motifs within circles are quilted in the corners of each block. The quilting design was marked in pencil and quilted 12 stitches per inch. The solid red, dark green, and white cottons chosen for this quilt provide a vivid rendition of the “Tulip” pattern.
Jane Winter Price, born in 1818 in Charles County, Md., was the daughter of Catherine Winter Dunnington II (1790 - 1863) and Richard Price (1771-1823). Catherine was married in 1813, and widowed in 1823. In 1838 she, along with her two living children, Jane and George Richard Price, left with others for Ala. On February 27, 1849, Jane married Josiah W. McHenry (b. 1815 in Maryland) in Shelby, Ala. In 1860 they lived in La Pile, Union County, Ark., with their four children, Catherine (b. 1850), Barnabas (b. 1852), George (b. 1854) and Jane C. (b. 1856) and Jane’s mother, Catherine, then aged 70. By 1870 they were living in Homer, La., where Jane died in January 1899. Jane C. was most likely the “Jennie” that is inked on the quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1875
maker
Price, Jane Winter
ID Number
TE.E387832
accession number
188128
catalog number
E387832

1850 - 1860 Elizabeth Weeks Johnson's "Oak Leaf" Appliqued Quilt

A Vermont quilter, Elizabeth Johnson, fashioned this oak themed quilt in the mid-19th century. The 11½-inch blocks are appliqued with flowers and buds and set diagonally with 11½-inch white blocks that are crossed by appliqued bands of rose, green, and pale green.
Description
A Vermont quilter, Elizabeth Johnson, fashioned this oak themed quilt in the mid-19th century. The 11½-inch blocks are appliqued with flowers and buds and set diagonally with 11½-inch white blocks that are crossed by appliqued bands of rose, green, and pale green. These are framed by a 5½-inch border appliqued with oak leaves. At some point the quilt may have been altered, one side removed and then reset on the cut-down quilt.
Elizabeth (Betsey) Weeks was born on January 18, 1773 in Vermont. She married James Brown Johnson and they lived in Benson, Rutland Co., Vermont. They had one daughter, Relief (1800-1847). According to family information, Elizabeth died on July 31, 1861. She is buried in the Old Benson Cemetery, Vermont. The donor is Elizabeth’s great, great granddaughter.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1860
maker
Weeks, Elizabeth Betsey
ID Number
TE.T13671
accession number
261168
catalog number
T13671

1840 - 1860 "Palm Tree and Pheasant" Whole-cloth Quilt

This counterpane, or whole-cloth quilt is made of lengths and fragments of cotton, block-printed in England with a palm-tree-and-pheasant motif. A design very popular in the early nineteenth century.
Description
This counterpane, or whole-cloth quilt is made of lengths and fragments of cotton, block-printed in England with a palm-tree-and-pheasant motif. A design very popular in the early nineteenth century. The printed fabric dates from 1820-1830, although the quilt was made in the mid-19th century. The lining consists of 36 pieces of plain-woven cotton with several different thread counts. A few pieces have rows of needle holes from previous use.
Written in ink on one piece is "E.L. (?) Hale P.” The quilting pattern consists of diagonal lines about 1 inch apart; 5-6 stitches per inch. The binding is a ¾-inch (finished) straight strip of roller-printed brown striped cotton seamed to the front, whipped to the lining. This quilt is an example of recycling fabrics, possibly bed furnishings, in the mid-19th century.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17328.000
catalog number
T17328.000
accession number
321804

1790 - 1810 Copp Family's "Nine-patch" Pieced Quilt

This quilt is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early-nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut.
Description
This quilt is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early-nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. All are a part of an extensive gift of household textiles, costume items, furniture, and other objects that belonged to his family from 1750 to 1850. The Copp Collection continues to provide insights into New England family life of that period.
The pieced blocks on this quilt, a variation of the “Nine-patch” pattern, are each made of one of nine different block-printed cottons. These are symmetrically arranged according to the particular print, and alternate with plain white blocks. The quilting pattern consists of parallel diagonal lines on the pieced blocks contrasting with 1½-inch shells on the white blocks, all quilted at 7 stitches per inch.
An analysis of the household textile collection donated by John Brenton Copp can be found in the Copp Family Textiles by Grace Rogers Cooper (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). In the book the author summarizes the family background. “The first Copp to reach America was William, a 26-year-old London shoemaker who in 1635 set out for the Massachusetts Colony on the good ship Blessing. He landed east of Boston and became the first owner of Copp’s Hill in north Boston . . . . William’s son Jonathan established the Connecticut branch of the family around Stonington later in the seventeenth century. Many of his male descendents gained comfortable prosperity as merchants and businessmen, while their wives and daughters led full lives as mothers of the large families in which education and refinement were encouraged . . . . The long succession of Jonathans, Samuels, Catherines, Esters, Marys, and Sarahs makes it rather difficult to set in order the generations and their contributions to the collection.” The exact maker of this “Nine-patch” quilt is unidentified, but it was probably made by one or more members of the Copp household.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1810
maker
Copp Family
ID Number
TE.H006679
accession number
28810
catalog number
H006679

1822 Margret Nolan's Embroidered Quilt

Below the crewel embroidered basket of flowers in the center panel of this quilt is the cross-stitched inscription: “Margret Nowlan 1822.” The quilt was found in a trunk by renters of a house in Maumee, Ohio.
Description
Below the crewel embroidered basket of flowers in the center panel of this quilt is the cross-stitched inscription: “Margret Nowlan 1822.” The quilt was found in a trunk by renters of a house in Maumee, Ohio. It was noted that Margret Nowlan was a housekeeper whom the owner of the house married after his wife died. After he died, she remarried again, but no names were provided. The significance of the 1822 date is unknown.
Five borders frame the central motif. The two plain borders are composed of several pieces of white cotton fabric that had been previously used. Roller-printed cottons were used for the other three borders. Linen thread was used for the zigzag quilting pattern on this example of a framed center quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1822
ID Number
TE.T15089
catalog number
T15089
accession number
287859

1880 - 1885 "Friendship" Quilt

Twenty-five blocks, each of a different fabric, are pieced in the “Schoolhouse” pattern for this “Friendship” quilt. The names of 25 women are inscribed in ink by the same hand. Research on the names revealed that they all had connections to Addison County, Vermont.
Description
Twenty-five blocks, each of a different fabric, are pieced in the “Schoolhouse” pattern for this “Friendship” quilt. The names of 25 women are inscribed in ink by the same hand. Research on the names revealed that they all had connections to Addison County, Vermont. The oldest was born in 1808, the youngest in 1866, with most born in the 1830s and 1840s. Some were teachers. Many are buried in Vermont, mainly at East Shoreham Cemetery.
In 1906, as a token of friendship, the quilt was passed along to the donor’s mother by a neighbor in Dubuque, Iowa. The neighbor’s mother was the maker of the quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1870-1890
1880-1885
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T11117
accession number
201463
catalog number
T11117

1840 - 1860 Mrs. Tarlton's "Mosaic" Quilt Top

This “Mosaic” quilt top is made of 1 ½-inch hexagons pieced into flowers. Each is framed by a row of tiny diamonds and triangles. The center of each flower is a printed red morning-glory and the same roller-printed cotton is used for the small diamonds.
Description
This “Mosaic” quilt top is made of 1 ½-inch hexagons pieced into flowers. Each is framed by a row of tiny diamonds and triangles. The center of each flower is a printed red morning-glory and the same roller-printed cotton is used for the small diamonds. According to donor information it was made by Mrs. Tarlton, and won a prize at a county fair in Vermont before the Civil War.
Mrs. Tarlton’s daughter, Nellie, married Captain McKeogh of New Orleans during the Civil War. She in turn gave the quilt to Miss Hannah Jane Seymour on the occasion of her marriage to Elliott Graham in 1891, the parents of the donor. Two of the white hexagons are inscribed “Graham” and “Hannah.” Unfortunately little is known of Mrs. Tarlton other than she moved to New Orleans with her daughter, Nellie.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
Tarlton, Mrs.
ID Number
TE.T16838.000
catalog number
T16838.000
accession number
306524

1825 - 1850 Nine-patch Pieced Quilt

This quilt, pieced in a modified Nine-patch pattern, displays a multitude of fabric examples mainly from the 1820s and 1830s.
Description
This quilt, pieced in a modified Nine-patch pattern, displays a multitude of fabric examples mainly from the 1820s and 1830s. Thirty roller-printed cottons, 5 block-printed cottons, and 16 woven fabrics (stripes, checks, and plaids) were used to make the 6-inch square pieced blocks that alternate with 6-inch squares of printed cottons. The quilt is lined and bound with a plain-weave white cotton fabric. It is quilted, 8 stitches per inch. The variety of fabrics that were used makes this quilt an especially interesting example of early 19th-century textile design and printing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825-1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15385
catalog number
T15385
accession number
293793

1825 - 1835 Betsy Totten's "Rising Sun" Quilt

While the precise name of an individual’s quilt pattern was seldom recorded in the nineteenth century, Mary Totten left no doubt about the name she gave this quilt or its importance to her when she prepared her will, circa 1860.
Description
While the precise name of an individual’s quilt pattern was seldom recorded in the nineteenth century, Mary Totten left no doubt about the name she gave this quilt or its importance to her when she prepared her will, circa 1860. “First, after all my lawful debts are paid and discharged, I give and bequeath to Rachel Mary Drake, daughter of William Drake, deceased, my large spread called the Rising Sun.” (Florence Peto in her book Historic Quilts ). More than 75 years later, the “Rising Sun” quilt was brought to the Smithsonian in 1938 by the donor, Marvel Matthes. She had been presented with this magnificent quilt by her godmother, Ellen Totten Butler.
The “Rising Sun” (also referred to at times as "Star of Bethlehem") pieced pattern in the center of the quilt is an eight-pointed star measuring 76 inches across. It contains 648 diamond-shaped pieces made of eleven different roller-printed cottons arranged concentrically by color. Appliquéd between the points of the star are elaborate vases of flowers and birds, combining floral glazed chintzes with some of the same fabrics used in the star. A matching floral vine runs around the four sides of the quilt between a swag-and-bow border on the inside, and a chain along the outer edge. The appliquéd flower stems, vine, swags, bows, and chain are only 3/32-inch wide. The star and border appliqué are outline-quilted, with additional small floral motif quilting in the open spaces in the border. The initials “B T” (unclear) are embroidered in red silk cross-stitch next to one of the corner vases.
Mary Totten, daughter of Gilbert Totten (1740-1819) and Mary Butler (1739-1832), was born in 1781 in Staten Island, New York. Mary was one of eight siblings. In the late eighteenth century, members of the Totten family bought land in the Staten Island area. About 1840 the area purchased by Gilbert, Mary’s father, became known as Tottenville. The economy revolved around oyster fishing, shipbuilding and repair, and farming. Mary married late in life, in her forties, first to Rev. Joseph Polhemus (1762-1827), and, after his death, to Matthew Williams (1780-1836). Mary had no children of her own and her “Rising Sun” quilt was willed to her grandniece when she died in 1861.
At the time of donation, 1938, the "Rising Sun" quilt was noted as made by Mary Betsy Totten or in another note Betsy Totten. In subsequent references either Mary Totten, Mary (Betsy) Totten, or Betsy Totten have been ascribed as the maker of the quilt. Mary did have a sister Elizabeth Totten Cole (1772 - 1860).
Mary "Betsy" Totten's “Rising Sun”quilt is an important example of design and workmanship in the Collection. The fabrics chosen to create this quilt were reproduced in the late twentieth century for the inspiration of contemporary quilters. Other Totten family quilts are in the collections of the Staten Island Historical Society, and another in Cooperstown, New York.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825-1835
maker
Totten, Mary Betsy
ID Number
TE.T08153
accession number
147358
catalog number
T08153

1750 - 1800 Copp Family's Indigo Wool Quilt

This indigo wool quilt is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut.
Description
This indigo wool quilt is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. All are part of an extensive gift of household textiles, costume items, furniture, and other objects that belonged to his family from 1750 to 1850. The Copp Collection continues to provide insights into New England family life of that period.
Whole cloth quilts were most popular between 1775 and 1840, although before 1800 they were relatively rare and expensive. This eighteenth-century example from the Copp family is a glazed indigo wool quilt. The fabric was dyed blue with indigo, one of the oldest dyes used for textiles. Glazing, a process involving the use of a hot press on wool fabric, resulted in a smooth, lustrous surface. The lining, a butternut-colored wool, apparently was made from two different blankets.
It is quilted with a popular motif of the period, a large pineapple, using blue wool thread, 7 stitches per inch. A quilted flowering vine extends from a basket at the bottom edge of the quilt and frames the pineapple. A family member, John Brown Copp (b. 1779), was known to have drawn designs for white counterpanes for the young ladies in the Stonington area. The quilting pattern on this indigo wool quilt is similar to the embroidery pattern of a white counterpane, from about 1800, which also belonged to the Copp family.
An analysis of the household textile collection donated by John Brenton Copp can be found in the Copp Family Textiles by Grace Rogers Cooper (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). In the book the author summarizes the family background. “The first Copp to reach America was William, a 26-year-old London shoemaker who in 1635 set out for the Massachusetts Colony on the good ship Blessing. He landed east of Boston and became the first owner of Copp’s Hill in north Boston . . . . William’s son Jonathan established the Connecticut branch of the family around Stonington later in the seventeenth century. Many of his male descendents gained comfortable prosperity as merchants and businessmen, while their wives and daughters led full lives as mothers of the large families in which education and refinement were encouraged . . . . The long succession of Jonathans, Samuels, Catherines, Esters, Marys, and Sarahs makes it rather difficult to set in order the generations and their contributions to the collection.” The exact maker of this indigo wool quilt is unidentified, but it was probably made by one or more members of the Copp household.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1750-1800
maker
Copp Family
ID Number
TE.H006643
accession number
28810
catalog number
H006643

1810 - 1820 Printed Glazed Cotton Quilt Center

Printed glazed cotton panel has an octagonal shape with flowers and cornucopia design on red ground. It is block-printed in yellow, tan, brown, black, with penciled blue, over painted green, and white reserves, on a red ground.
Description (Brief)
Printed glazed cotton panel has an octagonal shape with flowers and cornucopia design on red ground. It is block-printed in yellow, tan, brown, black, with penciled blue, over painted green, and white reserves, on a red ground. Medallions of this kind were used for such furnishings as chair cushions and quilts.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1810-1820
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T15184
catalog number
T15184
accession number
295248

1800 - 1825 Pieced Quilt Top Segment

This quilt top segment is composed of 130 1 ¼-inch squares of printed and plain-woven cottons. This small segment contains a significant sampling of block- androller-printed cottons from the early nineteenth century.
Description
This quilt top segment is composed of 130 1 ¼-inch squares of printed and plain-woven cottons. This small segment contains a significant sampling of block- androller-printed cottons from the early nineteenth century. Small florals, geometrics, polka-dot, and printed plaids are represented. Block prints have penciled blue. The white dimity squares are in two different weaves. The sewing thread is linen and the pieces connected by overcasting.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800-1825
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17319.000
catalog number
T17319.000
accession number
321804

1876 Emma St. Clair Whitney's Pieced Silk Quilt

“1876 Emma St. Clair Whitney Centennial” is printed on the center rosette of this silk quilt. Two-inch plain colored silk hexagons are pieced into rosettes, each separated by black hexagons. An 8-inch silk border is quilted, 8 stitches per inch, with a 5-banded cable pattern.
Description
“1876 Emma St. Clair Whitney Centennial” is printed on the center rosette of this silk quilt. Two-inch plain colored silk hexagons are pieced into rosettes, each separated by black hexagons. An 8-inch silk border is quilted, 8 stitches per inch, with a 5-banded cable pattern. The silk lining is hand-quilted in a shell pattern in the center with a 4-banded cable pattern on the border.
Emma St. Clair Nichols was born on September 26, 1840 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. She married William Whitney (1823-1899) on October 2, 1862. He was a lawyer and Civil War veteran. They raised four children. In 1891 Emma published a book, Michael Hillegas and his Descendants, a memoir of her great grandfather. Michael Hillegas (1729-1804) was the First Treasurer of the United States. In the forward she mentioned that, “. . . [it] is hoped that the facts and materials here collected and classified, will be found serviceable to some later writer. . .” Emma died April 4, 1895. Her 1876 Centennial silk quilt is her legacy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
maker
Whitney, Emma St. Clair
ID Number
TE.T17755.000
catalog number
T17755.000
accession number
316364

1790 - 1810 Copp Family's Framed Center Pieced Quilt

This pieced-work example is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut.
Description
This pieced-work example is one of three late-eighteenth-and-early nineteenth-century quilts that were donated in the 1890s by John Brenton Copp of Stonington, Connecticut. All are a part of an extensive gift of household textiles, costume items, furniture and other objects that belonged to his family from 1750 to 1850. The Copp Collection continues to provide insights into New England family life of that period.
The arrangement of the pattern of this quilt is one found frequently in eighteenth-century and early-nineteenth-century quilts, a succession of borders framing a center panel of pieced work. A view of the pieced center of this quilt seen from the right side, suggests the shape of a tree, and the printed fabrics repeat in mirror fashion in each row about ninety percent of the time. Perhaps the center was erroneously placed in this direction, or it was meant to be viewed from the bedside. The lining is pieced of much-mended linen and cotton fabrics that originally were probably sheets. On one piece, the initials “HV” are cross-stitched in tan silk thread. It is quilted in an overall herringbone pattern, 5 or 6 stitches per inch.
The clothing and furnishing fabrics used in the quilt top span a period of about forty years. This, and the fact that the Copp family was in the dry goods business, may explain why the quilt includes more than one hundred and fifty different printed, woven-patterned, and plain fabrics of cotton, linen and silk. Although the array of fabrics is extravagant, economy is evident in the use of even the smallest scraps. Many blocks in the quilt pattern are composed of several smaller, irregularly shaped pieces. Two dresses, in the Copp Collection, one from about 1800 and the other from about 1815, are made of fabrics that appear in the quilt.
An analysis of the household textile collection donated by John Brenton Copp can be found in the Copp Family Textiles by Grace Rogers Cooper (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1971). In the book the author summarizes the family background. “The first Copp to reach America was William, a 26-year-old London shoemaker who in 1635 set out for the Massachusetts Colony on the good ship Blessing. He landed east of Boston and became the first owner of Copp’s Hill in north Boston . . . . William’s son Jonathan established the Connecticut branch of the family around Stonington later in the seventeenth century. Many of his male descendents gained comfortable prosperity as merchants and businessmen, while their wives and daughters led full lives as mothers of the large families in which education and refinement were encouraged . . . . The long succession of Jonathans, Samuels, Catherines, Esters, Marys, and Sarahs makes it rather difficult to set in order the generations and their contributions to the collection.” The exact maker of this quilt is unidentified, but it was probably made by one or more members of the Copp household.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1790-1810
maker
Copp Family
ID Number
TE.H006680
accession number
28810
catalog number
H006680

1840 - 1860 "Rose of Sharon" Quilt Block

Rose of Sharon quilt block with plain curved edges and straight stems with leaves and buds. Pieced of plain-woven red, green, and yellow cottons and one roller-printed cotton. Part of a series of blocks intended for a quilt.Currently not on view
Description
Rose of Sharon quilt block with plain curved edges and straight stems with leaves and buds. Pieced of plain-woven red, green, and yellow cottons and one roller-printed cotton. Part of a series of blocks intended for a quilt.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.E387833.00C
accession number
188128
catalog number
E387833C

1840 - 1860 "Rose of Sharon" Applique Quilt

Even though this appliquéd quilt has no known maker, nor specific place of origin, it is a fine example of mid-nineteenth-century quilt making.
Description
Even though this appliquéd quilt has no known maker, nor specific place of origin, it is a fine example of mid-nineteenth-century quilt making. It consists of nine 23-inch blocks, the center and four corner blocks are appliquéd with a large variation of the Rose of Sharon pattern. Four other blocks are quilted and stuffed motifs popular at the time; an eagle with a shield and flags, an eagle with arrows and an olive branch, a grape-vine and a basket of fruit. The 12-inch border of the quilt is appliquéd with swags and roses. Also on the border are thirty-six small quilted and stuffed motifs of birds on branches, flowers, and grapes.The fabrics used are roller printed cottons. The background is closely quilted with diagonal lines, 12 to 13 stitches per inch. Many of the motifs found on this quilt expressed patriotism and often embellished quilts as well as other household items in the nineteenth century.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1840-1860
quilter
unknown
ID Number
TE.T12918
accession number
246047
catalog number
T12918

1850 Mary Walcott's Pieced Quilt

Mary L. Walcott constructed this quilt based on the “Wild Goose Chase” pattern using only plain red and polka-dotted red and white cottons. It is quilted at 7-8 stitches/inch using grid and chevron patterns. She made this quilt about the time her son, Charles D.
Description
Mary L. Walcott constructed this quilt based on the “Wild Goose Chase” pattern using only plain red and polka-dotted red and white cottons. It is quilted at 7-8 stitches/inch using grid and chevron patterns. She made this quilt about the time her son, Charles D. Walcott, was born. In 1907 he became the fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
Walcott, Mary L.
ID Number
TE.T04592
accession number
69191
catalog number
T04592

1840 - 1850 Mary Ann Bishop's "Wreath of Roses" Appliqued Quilt

In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Ann Bishop appliquéd this cotton “Wreath of Roses” quilt in the then popular red and green combination of fabrics. Nine 18-inch blocks appliquéd with wreaths of roses are separated by 5½-inch plain white sashing.
Description
In the mid-nineteenth century, Mary Ann Bishop appliquéd this cotton “Wreath of Roses” quilt in the then popular red and green combination of fabrics. Nine 18-inch blocks appliquéd with wreaths of roses are separated by 5½-inch plain white sashing. Eight-pointed stars are appliquéd at the sashing intersections. The 8-inch quilt border is appliquéd with three-lobed leaves on an undulating vine. Plain-weave white and red cottons and a roller-printed cotton of brown dots on a green ground were used for the quilt. Diagonal grid and line quilting, 10 stitches to the inch, provides a contrast to the quilted feathered leaves on the sashing. Two gradually curved S-shaped wooden templates, also donated to the Collection, were used for marking the quilting pattern.
Mary Ann Gotschall was born July 7, 1819. She married Hiram H. Bishop (1818-1897) on January 31, 1842, in Harrison County, Ohio. He received his medical training at Starling Medical College in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1840s. Lyne Starling (1784-1848) was the founder of the hospital and medical school, a new concept at that time of providing medical education and patient care in one facility. During the Civil War, from June 1864 to March 1865, Hiram was contracted as an Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Totten General Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky. In March of 1865, when he left, the hospital had over 6,500 patients and fewer than 100 surgeons.
Mary and Hiram reared four children; John (b. 1843), Naomi (b. 1845), Mary (b. 1848), and Luie (b. 1860). Mary Ann died March 9, 1915, and is buried in the Wilkesville Cemetery. Mary Ann Bishop’s quilt in the “Wreath of Roses” pattern is one of three quilts in the collection that were donated to the Smithsonian by her granddaughter, Maude M. Fierce, in 1936 and 1937.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1850
maker
Bishop, Mary Ann Gotschall
ID Number
TE.T07956
accession number
143694
catalog number
T07956

1877 - 1878 Joseph Granger's Child's Quilt

Joseph Granger’s granddaughter donated both her grandmother’s (Caroline Granger’s) prize-winning child’s quilt and the quilt that her grandfather made.
Description
Joseph Granger’s granddaughter donated both her grandmother’s (Caroline Granger’s) prize-winning child’s quilt and the quilt that her grandfather made. According to a family note with the quilt, “Pa quilted the other all himself by machine.”
Joseph Granger chose to machine-quilt in a triple diagonal grid pattern, similar to the background of his wife’s hand-quilted child’s quilt that won a medal at the New England Agricultural Fair in 1878. It is not known whether Joseph made the quilt as a personal challenge to equal his wife’s accomplishment, or if it was made to prove the point that what could be done by hand could also be done with a machine. After several decades of improvements, sewing machines, by the 1870s, had become popular consumer products to have in the home. Possibly the idea of mechanical sewing was intriguing to Joseph and he wished to try his proficiency with it.
Joseph H. Granger was born on October 21, 1842, in L’Acadie, Quebec, Canada. He married Marie Caroline Lamoureux (1850-1936) in N. Grosvenordale, Connecticut, on January 30, 1873. They had twelve children and lived in Worcester, Masssachusetts. Joseph died on June 16, 1934.
Claire L. Meyer, the Granger’s granddaughter wrote: “Many thanks for your letter of July 7, 1972, regarding a crib quilt made by my grandmother a hundred years ago. I am also enclosing for your consideration a quilt machine stitched by my grandfather! . . . I hope it will be worthy of the national collection.” The two quilts are worthy, and provide an interesting contrast between the precise handwork of Mrs. Caroline Granger and the equally precise machine stitching of Mr. Joseph Granger.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1877-1878
maker
Granger, Joseph H.
ID Number
TE.T16318
accession number
302043
catalog number
T16318

1825 - 1850 Electa Kingsbury Sweetland's Pieced Quilt

The design of this pieced quilt, rendered in five roller-printed cottons, resembles both the “Delectable Mountains” and “Twelve Crowns” patterns. Pattern block names vary by era and region.
Description
The design of this pieced quilt, rendered in five roller-printed cottons, resembles both the “Delectable Mountains” and “Twelve Crowns” patterns. Pattern block names vary by era and region. Variations on traditional or classical block patterns are always evolving with new names and the maker may have had another name for the pattern. It is quilted 5 stitches per inch, with a pattern of various size wheels (15-inch, 13-inch and 6-inch) and parallel diagonal lines.
Marked in ink on the lining is “E.K. Sweetland. No.14.” At the time of the 1973 donation by a descendent, a note attached to the quilt noted: “142 years old. Made by Electa Kingsbury Sweetland, Great grandmother of F.P. Loomis.” The Loomis, Kingsbury and Sweetland families were early settlers of Coventry, Connecticut.
Electa Kingsbury was born June 9, 1791 in Coventry. She married Levi Sweetland (1789-1851 or 1854) on March 8, 1810. They had five children and the quilt was possibly made for her daughter, Mary Ann, who was born in 1811 and married George Nelson Loomis (1811-1874). Electa died December 6, 1848 and is buried in the Center Cemetery in Coventry, Connnecticut.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1825-1850
maker
Sweetland, Electa Kingsbury
ID Number
TE.T16940.00S
accession number
310734
catalog number
T16940S

1840 - 1860 Clarissa Penn's Silk Quilt

Attached to this quilt when it was donated in 1975 was a note: “Made of Wedding and ‘Second Day’ dresses belonging to Mrs. William Penn (nee Clarissa Tarleton,) of St. Mary’s County, Maryland.
Description
Attached to this quilt when it was donated in 1975 was a note: “Made of Wedding and ‘Second Day’ dresses belonging to Mrs. William Penn (nee Clarissa Tarleton,) of St. Mary’s County, Maryland. (Circa 1800).” While many of the fabrics in this quilt are from the mid-19th century, the pale yellow and pearl-grey silks are possibly of an earlier date. They show wear and darning. Clara Tarlton married William Penn on March 7, 1809, in St Mary’s County, Maryland. Perhaps years later she fashioned this quilt using some of her wedding trousseau.
The pale yellow eight-pointed star in the center is set off by a purple ground and peach border. Seven more colorful borders frame the center. Meandering and feathered vines, bowknots, and flowers, as well as diagonal grid and parallel line patterns used for the quilting, further delineate the borders. The quilt has been relined with glazed cotton, replacing the original lining of grey-green wool. The quilting was originally done in yellow and ivory silk. Later quilting utilized various colors of silk thread, and was quilted through both linings. The adept use of color enhances the geometric balance of this quilt which preserved the fabric mementoes of a special event.
While it is not known that Clarissa was a Quaker, the quilt is typical of Quaker silk quilts of the early 19th century. These were made of solid colors, often expensive silks and/or remnants of wedding dresses. Quilts such as Clarissa’s were treasured as decorative and commemorative items and subsequently well cared for.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17738
accession number
319017
catalog number
T17738

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