Name/Title
QuiltEntry/Object ID
2001.63.46Description
Quilt, "Caesar's Crown" pattern, 25 12" blocks, handsewn, pink, brown and white fabrics (could be 1820s-1830s fabrics), pink seaweed border on two sides, applied straight chintz binding, maulin backing, 8-9 stitches/inch with cotton thread, cotton batting, quilted by the block with parallel lines, quilted in plain blocks with triple rows and hanging grid (every other plain block quilted in the Caesar's Crown pattern, triple parallel diagonally quilted lines through the plain blocks, single parallel diagonally quilted lines through the pieced blocks), 4" top and bottom border with triple row quilting, rounded corners, white backing, rounded corners, 92"h x 83"w, c. 1840.
Handwritten note in ink on cloth sewn to the back of one corner, reads "Sept. 9, 1912. Hugh, Your Grand Mother Kennedy pieced and quilted this quilt before she married. She was married the 9th, 1847. (Your Mother)" [Annie Kennedy Campbell's note to her son Hugh Campbell refers to his maternal grandmother, Martha Armstrong Kennedy.] To the left of the note is chain-stitched mark in the shape of a "V" or an "L", with each leg 1/2" long.
Constructed with some of the same fabrics as Irish Chain quilt 2001.63.45.
Per Merikay Waldvogel: "The interesting thing about this quilt are the fabrics. These prints are not usually seen in Tennessee. Quilts similar to this may have been destroyed during Civil War. This quilt has a lot of different fine fabrics, which probably came in from Charleston or Baltimore. Chintz (British import) binding is extravagant. The pink fabrics are reminiscent of French printed fabrics. The plaids--in brown, red and green--are unusual for the time." (Quality and quantity of fabrics denote some wealth in the family or perhaps an owner of a dry-goods store.)Collection
Spruiell, DorothyMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Kennedy, Martha ArmstrongRole
ArtistDate made
1837 - 1847