Princess Feather quilt, Mary Somerville

Exhibition Label:
"Quilts! Imported Fabrics, American Treasures," May-2004, Barbara Brackman
Mary Somerville (ca. 1801 - ?) was seventeen years old when she made this cutout chintz quilt, a fact she recorded in the center, along with her name and the date. She used a medallion format and added a series of borders, some made of motifs cut directly from chintz botanical prints, a technique we call Broderie Perse, French for Persian embroidery. Cutting the florals from a piece of European chintz and spacing them out on a piece of less expensive, American-woven fabric was one way of conserving a costly import. The central appliquéd design is an early patchwork example of a pattern called “Prince’s Feather” or “Princess Feather,” possibly named for a garden plant with showy leaves.