AN APPLIQUED COTTON QUILTED COVERLET

BY RHODA BEATTY WHITCOMB (1824-1889), CIRCA 1853

Details

AN APPLIQUED COTTON QUILTED COVERLET
By Rhoda Beatty Whitcomb (1824-1889), circa 1853
The rectangular form worked in a California Rose pattern in pink, green, and yellow and pink calicoes, with stylized flowers flanked by leaves and issuing leafy stems with further flowers on a white ground quilted with Princess Feather wreaths centering diamond quilting, all framed with a meandering pink and calico scalloped border issuing stylized tulips and Princess Feather quilting, bound in dark and light pink and green; together with a medal c. 1858 from the Adams County Agricultural and Mechanical Association (Illinois) in a leather case
91. x 72in. (2)

Provenance

Rhoda Beatty Whitcomb (1824-1889), Quincy, Illinois, quilt-maker
Fannie Mable Whitcomb (b. 1882), Modesto, California, grand-daughter
By descent in family to present owner

Lot Essay

According to family tradition, the fabrics used by Rhoda Beatty Whitcomb to make the quilt illustrated here were cut by her husband, Emory Stratton Whitcomb (1819-1899), who is also said to have designed the quilt. Emory Whitcomb and Rhoda Beatty were married in Marcelline, Illinois in 1843. Emory Whitcomb was a miller and wool carder in Quincy, Illinois in the mid-19th century. The quilt is believed to have been made in 1853; it was exhibited in several fairs in Adams County, Illinois in subsequent years.

A bronze medal awarded from the Adams County Agricultural and Mechanical Association accompanies this quilt. According to the Adams County Historical Society, the medal dates from 1858; the first fair held by that organization was in 1854.

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