Anonymous Needlework: Uncovering British Patchwork 1680-1820 Bridget Long Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of PhD May 2014 Abstract During the eighteen century there was a significant growth in patchwork materially and linguistically. It was the century when patchwork was stitched at all levels of society and has been identified as the time when patchwork moved out from the small domestic world of decorative sewing into the wider public sphere, leaving behind other needlework as it became embedded in the language and writing of the period. This research examines the social and cultural contexts relating to the making of patchwork in the long eighteenth century and in doing so contributes to the story of women and their material lives in the period. Noted for its longevity, surviving as a widespread practice across the century, patchwork was a democratic needlework that was practiced by any woman capable of stitching a variety of fabric pieces together to make a larger whole. A widespread understanding of the term and familiarity with the practice enabled it to be employed successfully in the literal and figurative language of the period. Patchwork was heralded as a fashionable activity in the early eighteenth century, but was later used to represent the ideal of the moral and capable housewife, devoted to her sewing skills and thrifty in her practice. The figurative style of the period allowed the simultaneous use of the word in differing ways so that patchwork was used both positively and negatively in literature, drama, critical review, political debate and theoretical discourse. Contents Abstract List of Figures Photograph Credits List of Tables Acknowledgments Page No. Introduction 1 Patchwork in the history of needlework 4 Documenting patchwork in the context of material cultural studies 8 The relationship between patchwork and key themes in the study of eighteenth-century Britain 12 Eighteenth-century style and design influences 20 Research methodologies 24 Patchwork uncovered 1680-1820 28 Chapter 1 The Material Evidence to be found in Patchwork 32 The survivors 33 Documenting quiltmaking 36 Recording eighteenth-century patchwork: the methodology for research 39 What is eighteenth-century patchwork? 41 Sewing techniques 46 The fabrics in patchwork 55 Design layouts 56 Patchwork shapes 58 Conclusion 60 Chapter 2 Beds and Bedcovers 64 Studies of beds, bedcovers and bedchambers 66 Bedcovers at the Old Bailey Court 73 Old Bailey: Rugs 78 Old Bailey: Hillings 80 Old Bailey: Quilts 80 Old Bailey: Counterpanes 84 Old Bailey: Coverlets 88 Old Bailey bedcovers: Evaluation 89 Beds and bedcovers in probate inventories in Huntingdonshire 92 Huntingdonshire: Types of beds and bedcovers 94 Huntingdonshire: Bedcover use 97 Conclusion 102 Chapter 3 Owners and Makers of Patchwork 105 Documentary sources 106 Earning a living from patchwork 107 The patchwork lives of women of lower rank 112 Patchwork for the middling and genteel 121 Conclusion 131 Chapter 4 Patchwork in the Domestic Context 133 Women’s role at home 134 Needlework at home 138 Learning to sew outside the home 144 Needlework as a source of consolation, reflection and entertainment 160 Conclusion 163 Chapter 5 ‘Worked patchwork for a work bag’: Making Patchwork 165 Sourcing the materials for patchwork 166 Designs for needlework 177 Designing patchwork 181 Conclusion 191 Chapter 6 The Eighteenth-century Language of Patchwork 193 The literal meaning and use of patchwork 194 The figurative use of patchwork 203 Conclusion 210 Conclusion 213 Appendix 1 Glossary 220 Appendix 2 Database for the Patchwork Objects 224 Appendix 3 Sources for the Recorded Patchwork Objects 226 Appendix 4 Mosaic Patchwork Construction 235 Bibliography 236 Figures 257 Illustrations 1 Patchwork quilt (detail), late eighteenth century, linen and cotton, collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, T.2012.7. 2 Patchwork quilt, early nineteenth century, cotton, private collection 3 Patchwork quilt and curtain (detail), said to have been made in 1708, cotton, collection of Levens Hall, Cumbria. 4 Set of patchwork bed furnishings made by Anna Brereton, 1801-1805, cotton, collection of Norwich Castle Museum, 1929.116. 5 Patchwork chair seat cover, late eighteenth century, cotton, collection of University of the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey, 8008. 6 Patchwork cushions, late eighteenth century, silk, collection of National Trust, Cotehele, 348284.1c and d. 7 Patchwork pocket, late eighteenth century, cotton and linen, collection of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, DE, USA, 1960.0195. 8 Patchwork housewife or sewing case signed SH and dated 1754, silk and flannel, collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, T.285-1984. 9 Half of a patchwork housewife or sewing case, 1767, silk and cotton or linen, Foundling Hospital Billet Book, 1764-7, A/FH/A/9/1/179, London Metropolitan Archives. 10 Patchwork banner made by E. Blythewood, 1814, cotton, db48, collection of Hampshire County Council Arts and Museums Service, 1956.53. 11 Patchwork chasuble and maniple, 1720-30, silk and velvet, private collection. 12 Mosaic patchwork (detail front and back), late-eighteenth century, cotton and linen, private collection. 13 Mosaic patchwork coverlet signed EH and dated 1718 in centre, silk, wool and linen, collection of Quilt Museum and Gallery, York, 2000.11.A. 14 Mosaic patchwork coverlet, 1735-1770, silk, collection of Hampshire County Council Arts and Museums Service, ACM 1950.257 15 Mosaic patchwork coverlet (detail), back of the work, showing paper templates and marked guidelines for construction, late eighteenth century, cotton and linen, private collection. 16 Set of patchwork bed hangings, early eighteenth century, cotton, linen, fustian and silk, collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, T242.F-1908. 17 Mosaic patchwork quilt made by Anna Ruggles 1796 (details), selective cutting from printed fabrics, collection of International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, NE, USA 2008.040.0140. 18 Fragment of mosaic patchwork coverlet (details), late-eighteenth century, selective cutting from printed fabrics, private collection. 19 Seamed patchwork (details front and back), late-eighteenth century, collection of Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, Cumbria, Cat.14. 20 Whip-stitched patchwork (detail), late-eighteenth or early nineteenth century, private collection. 21 Inlaid patchwork and embroidered coverlet or hanging 1766, wool, collection of Sevenoaks Museum, Kent, k1972. 22 Patchwork coverlet 1726, silk, cotton, linen and worsted, collection of the McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, Canada, M972.3.1. 23 Patchwork coverlet 1765, silk, Schloss Berlin Collection, Castle Doorn, Netherlands, 11198. 24 Patchwork quilt, 1690-1750, silk and velvet, collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, T.201.1984. 25 Fragment of a patchwork and embroidered coverlet, 1700-1720, silk and velvet, collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, VA, 2005-1-A. 26 Appliqué and Broderie perse appliqué coverlet, c. 1790, cotton and linen, collection of the Cowper and Newton Museum, Olney, Buckinghamshire, OLNCM.2657. 27 Patchwork coverlet signed MCB and dated 1797, cotton and linen, collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, T.102.1938. 28 Patchwork coverlet, 1803-5, cotton and linen, collection of Victoria and Albert Museum, T.9.1962. 29 Appliqué quilt 1795, cotton and linen, collection of Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA, 41.285. 30 Appliqué and patchwork coverlet, 1810-20, cotton, collection of Gunnersbury Park Museum, London, 2894. 31 Patchwork coverlet made by Ann West in 1820, wool, collection of Victoria and Albert museum, T.23.2007. 32 Broderie perse appliqué coverlet, late eighteenth century, cotton and linen, loan to the collection of the Quilt Museum and Gallery, York, 1985.3.A. 33 Patchwork quilt, late eighteenth century, silk, collection of Victoria and Albert museum, T.117-1973. 34 Patchwork and appliqué coverlet, 1780-1808, cotton and linen, private collection. 35 Printed panel commemorating Princess Charlotte’s marriage in 1816, cotton, Private collection. 36 Patchwork quilt inscribed ‘mary robson her work done in the year of our lord 1801’, cotton and linen, collection of Quilt Museum and Gallery, York, 2009-4-A. 37 Mosaic patchwork coverlet, mainly late-eighteenth century with 1820s additions on edges, cotton and linen, private collection. 38 William Hogarth The Idle ‘Prentice return’d from Sea, & in a Garret with a common Prostitute, 1747, printed engraving, Lewis Walpole Library, New Haven, Conn., 747.09.30.072. 39 Fragments of Green and Yellow Rugs (detail), eighteenth century, Collection of Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur museum, DE, USA. 40 Back of a patchwork quilt (detail), cotton, c.1810, private collection. 41 Anon., The Case of the Quilt-Makers, printed broadsheet, c. 1720, Collection of Jonathan Holstein. 42 Anne Hutton’s quilt, cotton, c.1715, Private collection. 43 ‘A description of the miseries of a Garreteer Poet’, from F. Coventry, The History of Pompey the Little; or, The Life and Adventures of a Lap Dog, (London, 1751), p. 219, Lewis Walpole Library, Conn., 751.02.00.01. 44 Tie-on pocket made from woven quilting (Marcella), early nineteenth century, Private collection. 45 Weft-loop woven counterpane 1809, cotton, Collection of the Victoria and Albert museum, T.12-1935. 46 Patchwork quilt made by Ann Cartwrite 1796, cotton and linen, private collection 47 After John Hamilton Mortimer, John Hamilton Mortimer