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Tied comforter
Crazy quilt
Tied comforter
Attributed to: Hattie P. Dyer (Milliner/Millinery Store Owner, Temple Street, Boston and Malden (b.1852))
American
About 1895
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Object Place: Malden, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/Technique
Silk velvet, cotton velvet, embossed and painted silk velvet, beadwork, silk and metallic thread embroidery
Dimensions
Overall: 176.5 × 174.6 cm (69 1/2 × 68 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Gerald E. Roy in memory of his mother, Elise B. Lamoureux Roy
Accession Number2018.208
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionCrazy quilt (or tied comforter) with 25 blocks (five across and five down, about 11" square each) and border (about 6 1/2" deep) with mitered corners and black cotton plain weave binding (about 1/2" wide). Top is tied to backing at corners of each square. The backing consists of two pieces of faded pink cotton plain weave (36" wide and 33 1/2" wide, seam is horizontal). The square blocks consist mostly of silk velvets in a range of saturated colors that are embroidered with silk threads in various colors in sprig patterns in a variety of large stitches. At the center of the center block is a painted rose sprig on blue velvet, and there are applied floral motifs from silk ribbons throughout. The embossed silk velvet label of milliner Hattie Dyer appears in three squares in mauve, brown and green (near center left and at lower right block). Several pieces of printed cotton velvet furnishing textile in a yellow and green floral pattern appear throughout. Figured velvets in stripes and floral patterns also appear throughout. Several painted and embossed velvet leaves are at centers of a few blocks. The multicolored silk embroidery is generally lighter color than the ground cloth, and in addition to sprig patterns there are crescent motifs, bows, and other geometric designs. The pieces in the border are arranged in parallel with embroidery over each seam and down the center.
Signed
Embossed velvet label of Boston milliner Hattie P. Dyer appears in three pieces on top:
"Dyer/Room 35/No. 7 Temple Place/Boston, Mass."
"Dyer/Room 35/No. 7 Temple Place/Boston, Mass."
Provenance1974, sold by Marjorie Laughlin (dealer), Northborough, MA to Gerald E. Roy and Paul Pilgrim, Warner, NH; 2018, gift of Gerald E. Roy to the MFA. (Accession date: April 25, 2018)