Quilted bed cover

Crewelwork embroidery
originally bed hangings

Embroidered by: Mary Drew Fifield (American, 1672–1713)
Embroidered by: Mary Fifield Adams (American, 1694–1748)
Probably reworked by: Bethiah Avery Grosvenor (1781–1833)

American

1713 (original bed hangings)

Object Place: Massachusetts, United States

Medium/Technique Linen and cotton twill (fustian) with wool embroidery; pieced and quilted; linen plain weave backing and silk twill tape

Dimensions 204 x 147 cm (80 5/16 x 57 7/8 in.)

Credit Line GIft of Mrs. Joseph Avery Manning

Accession Number31.694

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsAmericas, Fashion and Textiles

ClassificationsTextiles

DescriptionQuilted bed cover made from embroidered valance and bed curtain; embroidered valance pieced across top; quilted with diagonal lines of stitches; plain white backing and yellowish tape binding; embroidered with flowering trees with exotic curling foliage growing from rocky mounds across bottom; laid stitches used for pink and beige stems and blue and green rocky mounds; link stitches, french knots, bullion stitches used in flower centers and in mound; variety of stitches, including cross stitch, used to fill in leaves; smaller stems made with stem stitch, original blue ink line visible where worn

ProvenanceMade from set of bed hangings embroidered before 1713 by Mary (Drew) Fifield (1672-1713) and her step-daughter Mary Fifield (1694-1748), who married Boston brewer Samuel Adams (b. 1689) in 1713; Bed hangings inherited by daughter Mary Adams (b. 1717), who married Boston tailor James Allen in 1742; Bed hangings inherited by daughter Mary Adams (1754-1842), who married the Rev. Joseph Avery of Holden, Massachusetts; Valance and large curtain inherited and made into bedcover by daughter Bethiah Avery (1781-1833) probably sometime before her marriage to Jonathan Grosvenor in 1804; Bed cover inherited by oldest daughter Lucy Bethiah (Grosvenor) Manning; Inherited by son David Manning; Inherited by son Alexander Bigelow Manning; Gift to uncle Joseph Avery Manning of Brookline; Gift to MFA from Mrs. Joseph Avery Manning in 1931