Images(2)

Quilt, Pieced From Printed Wedding Dress

Date1798-1825

Artist/Maker Mary Cooke

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Groton

MediumPrinted cottons, linen (textile lab microscopic analysis)

DimensionsOH: 92" OW 99 1/4"

Credit LineBequest of Grace Hartshorn Westerfield

Object number1974-366

DescriptionThis is a T-shaped quilt with cut-out corners pieced from two different floral printed cottons, one light ground and one dark ground. The pattern consists of wide vertical strips or panels, two of dark ground and three light ground prints. The wide panels are separated by narrow strips of pieced triangles. The quilting is worked with six to seven running stitches per inch in a design of curving abstract leaves in rows and hearts within triangles.Linen backing.Label TextFamily history states that Miss Mary Cook of Groton, Massachusetts, rode on horseback to Boston to purchase the two materials that were eventually used in this quilt at a cost of $1.00 per yard. The light-ground print came from her wedding gown for her marriage to Mr. John Page; the dark, a dress for her trousseau. Mary Cooke quilted leaf motifs in the wide stripes and a heart in the center of each triangle. Although the family history ascribed the wedding date to 1793, the wedding actually occurred in July of 1798.

Art of the Quilter:
Mary Cooke pieced this quilt as a labor of love. According to family history, both floral printed cottons were associated with her 1798 wedding to John Paige. Her wedding dress was made of the lighter print, while the dark ground print was used for a gown in her trousseau. By the early 19th century, trousseau referred to linens and clothing collected by a bride for her married household. As another loving touch, Mary stitched hearts on each of the triangular panels in the quilt.

Records suggest Mary was from Massachusetts. Her wedding appears to have taken place in Fitchburg, though she is described as "of Lunenburg." A note found with the quilt described her crossing the Charles River by ferry to purchase fabric in Boston.ProvenanceUnknown date, Grace H. Westerfield (Camden, Maine); 1974, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)