What do you think?
Rate this book
Quilts in a Material World: Selections from the Winterthur Collection
In this pioneering publication, Winterthur’s renowned quilt collection is presented through dazzling color photographs that showcase rich fabrics and skillful needlework techniques. The letters of twenty-three-year-old Mary Remington, a dedicated quilt maker, and the extraordinary whitework quilt she made in 1815—the only known example of an American quilted coat of arms—provide themes for the book, which looks at the quilts through the lives of their makers. Among the reproductions included—many are being seen here for the first time—are quilts that express religious faith or commemorate marriages and other family connections; quilts in support of political candidates, made by women who could not vote; quilted bedspreads with matching quilted valances and dressing-table covers pictured in room settings; and much more.
This exquisite presentation provides a rare opportunity to view the strengths of the Winterthur quilt collection—highlighting examples from the period of the early American republic—and to understand how the economics and politics of the time affected quilt materials and design in the early nineteenth century.
This exquisite presentation provides a rare opportunity to view the strengths of the Winterthur quilt collection—highlighting examples from the period of the early American republic—and to understand how the economics and politics of the time affected quilt materials and design in the early nineteenth century.
- GenresQuiltingMaterial Culture
208 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2007
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 14, 2017
This was interesting for many reasons -- as a close study of a particular quilt and its context, and for some of the particulars.
"Quilts are not made in isolation. With few exceptions, they are created from fabrics that were woven, bleached, dyed or printed, transported, advertised, and sold within either a ntaionl or an international context of industry and commerce. The selection of a particular design or technique by a quilt maker in America -- or on the southeast coast of India - is influenced by the fasions of the time and the materials that are available. While individual choices may be conditioned by local preferences and experiences, the general techniques and designs are part of a wider design vocabulary that is international in nature. One aspect of recent quilt scholarship is the identification of the individual maker, almost always a woman, and the social context in which she made her quilt. . . . historic quilts are often the only evidence that survives of the makjer's skill, artistry, or existence.
"This is not the story of a young woman in a rural backwater. Through her needlework, her reading, and her travls, the activities of business and pleasure undertaken by her friends and family, and the effects of politics, international trade embargoes, and war on her happiness and well-being, we can see that Mary's life was an integral part of a wider history." p. 10
The Winterthur collection includes a quilt made by Rebecca Scattergood Savery "a [pieced] sunburst quilt from a variety of small-patterned printed cottons purchased for a quilt intended to celebrate the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth. This Quake rquilt attests to the love of brigh tcolors and busy patterns among a religious community often thought to value only muted colors and plan designs" (11)
“Mary Remington carefully documents the books she read in her letters to Peleg Congdon. An important part of many women’s lives was reading for the purpose of furtherin gtheir educaiton as well as for pleasure. Ranging from A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies by Jane Barker, published in 1723, to the 1991 novel Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood; and from Eliza Calvert Hall’s Aunt Jane of Kentucky, published in 1907, to the contemporary mysteries of Barbara Michaels, Earlene Fowler, and Jean Hager, quilts have often been used as a literary metphor for many different aspects of women’s lives, many of them specifically American. Reading played an important part in women’s ecduvcation, at first only for the wealthy elite. By the late eighteenth century, reaidng classics in translation as well as contemporary novels had come to be accepted as part and parcel of genteel behavior. Someone would often read to the young women learning fancy needlework at school, and the subject sof their silkwork picture soften reflected the literature they read” (Quilts in a Material World, 51).
"Quilts are not made in isolation. With few exceptions, they are created from fabrics that were woven, bleached, dyed or printed, transported, advertised, and sold within either a ntaionl or an international context of industry and commerce. The selection of a particular design or technique by a quilt maker in America -- or on the southeast coast of India - is influenced by the fasions of the time and the materials that are available. While individual choices may be conditioned by local preferences and experiences, the general techniques and designs are part of a wider design vocabulary that is international in nature. One aspect of recent quilt scholarship is the identification of the individual maker, almost always a woman, and the social context in which she made her quilt. . . . historic quilts are often the only evidence that survives of the makjer's skill, artistry, or existence.
"This is not the story of a young woman in a rural backwater. Through her needlework, her reading, and her travls, the activities of business and pleasure undertaken by her friends and family, and the effects of politics, international trade embargoes, and war on her happiness and well-being, we can see that Mary's life was an integral part of a wider history." p. 10
The Winterthur collection includes a quilt made by Rebecca Scattergood Savery "a [pieced] sunburst quilt from a variety of small-patterned printed cottons purchased for a quilt intended to celebrate the marriage of her daughter Elizabeth. This Quake rquilt attests to the love of brigh tcolors and busy patterns among a religious community often thought to value only muted colors and plan designs" (11)
“Mary Remington carefully documents the books she read in her letters to Peleg Congdon. An important part of many women’s lives was reading for the purpose of furtherin gtheir educaiton as well as for pleasure. Ranging from A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies by Jane Barker, published in 1723, to the 1991 novel Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood; and from Eliza Calvert Hall’s Aunt Jane of Kentucky, published in 1907, to the contemporary mysteries of Barbara Michaels, Earlene Fowler, and Jean Hager, quilts have often been used as a literary metphor for many different aspects of women’s lives, many of them specifically American. Reading played an important part in women’s ecduvcation, at first only for the wealthy elite. By the late eighteenth century, reaidng classics in translation as well as contemporary novels had come to be accepted as part and parcel of genteel behavior. Someone would often read to the young women learning fancy needlework at school, and the subject sof their silkwork picture soften reflected the literature they read” (Quilts in a Material World, 51).
December 29, 2023
This is a 5-star book for its thoroughness and enjoyable look into the antique quilts - and the world around them - at the Winterthur Museum. It's a different kind of quilt history book, though. It uses the quilts as a basis for studying the personal, political, business, global, social, and textile manufacturing aspects of the quilts' and quiltmakers' times, particularly as played out in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Have to say, I was shocked to learn that in the early 20th century, collectors, interior designers, and regular homeowners cut up and re-used antique quilts as upholstery for chairs and sofas. It was quite the thing for a while. Made me think of the controversy around the current fad for cutting old quilts and remaking them into clothing.
Have to say, I was shocked to learn that in the early 20th century, collectors, interior designers, and regular homeowners cut up and re-used antique quilts as upholstery for chairs and sofas. It was quite the thing for a while. Made me think of the controversy around the current fad for cutting old quilts and remaking them into clothing.
July 22, 2021
I very much enjoyed this thoroughly detailed history of a specific collection of quilted textiles. Each piece is placed in context with as much as can be known about the maker, about the type of fabric used, and about the sewing techniques. I learned a great deal about the English-American textile industry and the transatlantic trade. In 2009 a traveling exhibition of Winterthur quilts made a stop at the Milwaukee Art Museum. (I'm sure this book was in the gift shop but I wouldn't have paid the $40 list price. Fortunately in July, 2021, the book on the giveaway table at the quilt guild meeting and I took it! Waiting paid off.)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews