Cloth Fragment

Object Name:

Cloth Fragment

Object ID:

1925.004.03 a-c

Place of Origin:

New England/England/India

Date:

1746

Description:

Petticoat fragments. Three remnants, sections of the wedding petticoat of Mehitable (Mrs. Meshech) Weare (1719-1781). Layer of wool batting between front and back panels, hand quilted with S-twist silk single-ply thread at 10 stitches/inch with scrolling floral vines and diagonal lines in background, diamond motifs near top (originally the waistline), each floral motif is ~13" x 10", diamonds 3" x 3". Stitch remnants and seam line indicate original petticoat waistband was seamed 0.25".

A. Full length petticoat panel, four-piece construction, front; nankeen colored silk plain weave, two panels, 27" and 7.75" long, hand seamed horizontally, an additional 1" wide fragment is seamed at selvedges to side of panel, back; two pieces of printed plain-woven ecru cotton block-printed floral pattern in black, larger piece 11.5" long, hand pieced at center bottom edge to a matching 4" x 1" semicircular piece, both fragments hand seamed horizontally to a floral block and combination resist-dyed print in red and pink on a plain-woven cotton silk blend, one visible selvedge. French seamed hem 0.25" along bottom edge, top edge (original waist) silk fabric basted to lining fabric, stitch marks and 21 creases from original 0.25" cartridge pleats that measured ~0.25", silk pressed over 0.25" to bind edge and whipstitched to black backing fabric 7.25" from top (waist) down to form part of pocket slit. Written in pen on red floral piece, "No. 12 c/s 12 Y". Has import number on it, probably furnishing fabrics.

B. Fragment from waist of petticoat, quilted like A. Front is single panel of nankeen colored silk plain weave. Back is two-piece construction, plain-woven cotton block-printed floral pattern in red and green, 11.25" wide, seamed vertically to 8.5" black floral print described in A. Top edge (original waist) has silk fabric basted to lining fabric, stitch marks, and 25 creases from original 0.25" cartridge pleats that measured ~0.25", silk pressed over 0.25" to bind edge and whipstitched to black backing fabric 7.25" from top (waist) down to form part of pocket slit.

C. Rectangular fragment originally from bottom half of petticoat; quilt pattern lines up with pattern from fragment A. Front is single panel of nankeen colored silk plain weave. Back is two-panel construction of red and pink block-printed textiles (same as fragment A) of 7.5" and 11" widths seamed vertically. All edges trimmed with 1" burgundy-colored silk ribbon (a later addition).

Material:

Textile

Dimensions:

W-20.25 L-35.25 inches

Provenance:

Remnants of Mehitable (Mrs. Meshech) Weare's wedding dress. Given by her great-great grandson, Henry M. Batchelder.

Credit Line:

Gift of Henry M. Batchelder

People:

Weare, Meshech (1713-1786), Weare, Mehitable (1719-1787), Batchelder, Henry M. (1852-1931)

Subjects:

Quilting, Block prints, Printing, Textiles, Textiles block printed