Antique Victorian Crazy Quilt, Hand Embroidered Silk And Velvet Patchwork Quilt

ANTIQUE FOLK ART PATCHWORK ‘CRAZY’ QUILT

A stunning example of Victorian folk art quilting. A wealth of typically irregular, yet high quality silk velvet and cotton scraps of fabric sewn in a totally random, asymmetrical pattern, a fashion that moved away from the traditional repeating geometric quilts of the earlier period.

What sets off this quilt is the embroidery which is full of folky and popular culture references of the time. It’s almost like a Victorian history lesson in itself. You see something new each time you look at it, but some stand out examples include spiders in webs, moons and stars, a cup of tea and a wonderful representation of a chair. There are also snowdrops dragon flies, an umbrella, victorian tennis rackets, thistles, hearts, a hot air balloon, a stork, butterflies, dragon flies, the list goes on….

The internal backing fabric is visible in places which is formed from a burlap feed sack indicating that this quilt wasn’t made by someone in the upper or middle classes, who almost always purchased fine muslin or cotton backing but instead indicates the maker was working class and used what they could find, a fact that makes it even more charming in a way.

This example is almost certainly British in origin as the Union Flag is represented in one of the embroideries.

Probably dating from the late 19th or possibly early 20th century period. Circa 1880-1910 in date.

Overall the quilt is in good vintage condition and survives well. As is typical of this type of quilt some of the finer silk patches have frayed or worn away. revealing the burlap sack backing behind. With these examples, where embroidery is present this has remained. At some point in its life, probably at some point in the 20th century a new black backing fabric has been applied to preserve the quilt, which has worked well.

Approximate measurements overall: 117cm x 119cm x 1cm.