Quilted petticoat

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

This quilted petticoat may have been made from a repurposed wholecloth bedcover or refashioned from a once larger skirt. The front of the textile is faced with a small-scale printed floral vine design in white, yellow, purple, and red blossoms with green leaves on a light brown ground. The back of the textile is faced with an orange striped cotton. A layer of cotton batting was quilted between the front and back facing fabrics. It was hand quilted with off-white cotton thread in an offset grid pattern with a leafy vine border design. The floral printed fabric was turned and hand stitched to the back fabric as binding. The fabrics and quilted motifs indicate it was probably made in the 1830s or 1840s. The fabric may have been imported from France.

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