A quilt tells a story

Story Quilt by Fannie Stebbins

Loretta reports:

Historic Deerfield has, among many other treasures, a remarkable collection of textiles.  In previous posts (here and here) I’ve shown you dresses from the exhibition Celebrating the Fiber Arts: The Helen Geier Flynt Textile  Gallery.*

What I very nearly missed was the splendid quilt collection displayed on racks in a corner of the gallery.  Luckily, my companions were more observant, and we discovered this fascinating work, made by a lady in her 80s.

I was able to photograph some of the sections, as you see below.  But the full quilt was beyond my camera skills, and it didn’t seem fair to you or the artist not to show the masterpiece in its entirety.  So I contacted the Historic Deerfield Curatorial Department, who very generously provided a photograph as well as detailed information, which I’ve excerpted below:

The figurative folk art quilt, by American Fannie Bouviere Stebbins (1846-1933), was made in 11 months (1925-26).  Materials are cotton, linen, wool, and silk.  It measures 86 in x 74-1/2 in; 218.44 cm x 189.23 cm.

“56 blocks laid out side-by-side, each with embroidered and appliquéd scenes ... a four-sided teacup border with embroidered edge in yellow thread; and silk backing.”

“Born in Hartford, Fannie [Bouviere] married George D. Stebbins (b.c.1847) of Hartford in 1867, and they celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in 1929 when George was 82 yrs. and Fannie 84 yrs.”

“In 1997, one of the summer fellowship program students noted the block with a young boy holding a whip while seated in a wagon harnessed to a African-American man, which was copied directly from a 1921 Cream of Wheat advertisement captioned 'Giddap Uncle.'—Gift of Mrs. Mary B. Denslow."

Full quilt photo at top by Penny Leveritt, Historic Deerfield.

My thanks to David E. Lazaro, Collections Manager and Associate Curator of Textiles, and Penny Leveritt, Visual Resources Manager, Historic Deerfield, for responding so graciously and generously to my query.

*on view until 28 December 2014

Please click on images to enlarge them.

 

A real day dress for about 1835

Day Dress c1834-36

Loretta reports:

More from my visit to Historic Deerfield and the exhibition Celebrating the Fiber Arts: The Helen Geier Flynt Textile  Gallery.*

Of course I was drawn to this dress, because it dates to the time of my Dressmakers series.  Though made of cotton, where most of the European fashion plates show muslin or silk, it shows that Americans followed the fashions popular in London and Paris.  The pleated bodice, for instance, was very popular, in both day and evening wear.  Dated 1834-1836, this is a good example of what the dresses looked like in real life, although we do have to use our imaginations a little.  We need to imagine sleeve puffs giving volume to the sleeves.  We also might want to replace the shiny green sateen ribbon at the waist with a belt made of fabric similar to that of the dress, although it could be in a contrasting color. Belts, like other accessories, are more liable to disappear than a dress is.  I was excited, for instance, to see that the pelerine had survived—and is much more attractive in person than in most fashion plates.

To aid your imaginings:  Isabella/Susan very kindly provided a link to some real dresses for this time, one with sleeve puffs and two (from the V&A) without.  The upper one shows the type of belt we’re likely to see in the fashion plates.

The fashion plate I’ve posted, whose dress has a similar look to the one from Historic Deerfield, will allow you to compare and contrast fashion illustration with actual clothing.  You will observe, too, that the lady who owned the Historic Deerfield dress did not have a teeny-tiny waist. 

Day Dress August 1835

I ought to note that many museums and even fashion history books refer to the big sleeves of the 1830s as leg-o-mutton.**  I’ve never encountered the term in 1830s magazines.  To my knowledge, they didn’t come into use until puffy sleeves revived in the 1890s.

Fashion plate courtesy Los Angeles Public Library.

*on view until 28 December 2014
**Thanks to Deb Salisbury for alerting me to an error about gigot sleeves in an earlier version of this post.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the fashion plate link will allow you to view at the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

A real dress for c 1885

Loretta reports:

Last week I presented fashions for September 1880.  My motives were ulterior, because I had a real dress to show you from the decade, having recently visited Historic Deerfield, to view the exhibition Celebrating the Fiber Arts: The Helen Geier Flynt Textile  Gallery.*  In the course of our perambulations, my companions and I came upon with this beautifully made silk taffeta dress. We were struck especially by the carefully matched stripes. 

It's always instructive to compare actual clothing with fashion plates.  Among other things, this reminds us that women's figures seldom bore a resemblance to those in the plates.  Though we rarely see fashion illustrations today, I'd use the analogy of store mannequins, who do not resemble the majority of women.  

The identification card doesn’t indicate what the dress’s function was, but I think we can safely rule out evening wear.  As to day wear, a dress for visiting or walking? Without accessories, it's hard for me to tell.  Our historic dress experts familiar with this era will probably be able to point out clues invisible to amateurs, no matter how nerdy we are.  In any event, feel free to propose your theory.

For more later-Victorian-era dress, please see posts here, here, and here.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it, but this is about as light as it gets.  The Flynt Textile Gallery permits photos, but without flash, and the lighting is subdued, to protect the fragile materials.  If you are in the area, a visit will show you this and other items in all their rich color and texture.

*on view until 28 December 2014