Name/Title
Tree of Life QuiltEntry/Object ID
1981.3.1Description
Large, white cotton quilt with chintz appliqué. A large tree in muted colors is in the center, with birds sitting on on the limbs and at the base. There is foliage floating around the tree. There are several borders: the inner-most is a thin, brown chintz border; the middle border is an appliqué of undulating vines with flowers; and the exterior border is a thick chintz floral border surrounded by a red border with blue leaves. It is quilted at twelve stitches per inch in a diamond pattern. There is no batting.Context
The Tree of Life quilt pattern was originally influenced by pampalores—brightly hand-painted thin bed coverings—made in India. As pampalores were exported to the western world in the early 1800s, women would often fussy-cut out the tree (meaning she would deliberately and carefully cut out a design from a printed fabric) and appliqué it to the center of a whole-cloth-style quilt before adding additional chintz appliqués and borders. This style later influenced the pieced Tree of Life design that rose in popularity in the 1850s.
While this quilter's identity is unknown, they were very skilled with needle and thread as well as their scissors. The preciseness of the fussy-cutting of the tree, leaves, and birds indicates a steady hand and great attention to detail. While eight to ten stitches per inch is considered "very good" quilting, this quilter's twelves stitches per inch reveals the quilter to be quite remarkable.Made/Created
Date made
circa 1820 - 1860Dimensions
Width
96-1/2 inLength
102 in
