Signature Quilt
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Reverend Charles Backus McLean
(American, 1815 - 1873)
Original OwnerOriginally owned by
Mrs. Charles Backus McLean
QuiltmakerQuilted by
Ladies of the Collinsville Congregational Church
(American)
DateOctober 1850
MediumHand-stitched, plain-woven, glazed and unglazed white and printed cottons, or chintz; woven tape; ink
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (length x width): 98 x 96in. (248.9 x 243.8cm)
ClassificationsTextiles
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith Beebe
Object number2004.78.0
DescriptionPieced signature quilt consisting of a pieced top of plain-woven cotton, batting, and a white, plain-woven cotton backing; the three layers are joined by a hand-stitched quilting pattern. The center of the quilt has a glazed plain-woven white cotton square with a hand-written inscription in black ink: "From the Ladies of/ Collinsville Parish to/ Mrs. Mary D. McLean/ Oct. 1850". Each block consists of a white cotton square with a signature hand-written in black ink, inside an eight-pointed star within a feathered square. The fabric that forms the pattern is a red floral print plain-woven cotton, or calico; the calico has a red background and small yellow flowers with black stems in an overall lineal pattern. There are 41 large squares of the pattern, and sixteen smaller squares around the edges, each an eight-pointed star with a signature in the center. The edge of the quilt is completed with a sawtooth pattern (Delectable Mountain pattern). The quilting pattern is in concentric squares with the quilting following the triangular shapes in the center of each square and around the edge. Each edge of the quilt has a basketweave tape binding.
Condition: Both sides of the quilt have scattered brown spots. The white cotton has an overall brown discoloration. Some fabric in the top center of the quilt has abraded; some batting was lost.
NotesHistorical Note: According to a letter written by Charles Smith Beebe, one of the donors, this quilt was made and signed by the ladies of the Collinsville Congregational Church in Collinsville, Connecticut. They gave it to Reverend and Mrs. Charles Backus McLean (1815-1873), possibly when the Reverend left for the congregational church in Wethersfield, Connecticut. The donor's grandmother, Harriet Seymour Cutler (1854-1930), later owned the quilt. Her mother died in 1861, and her father, William Cutler, died in 1878. From the death of her father until her marriage to Frank George Smith (1855-1940) on 8 October 1884, Harriet Cutler lived with Reverend and Mrs. McLean.Condition: Both sides of the quilt have scattered brown spots. The white cotton has an overall brown discoloration. Some fabric in the top center of the quilt has abraded; some batting was lost.
Status
Not on view
