Bed Cover
1850-75 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Patchwork is a needlework technique where small pieces of cut out fabric shapes are sewn together to produce a decorative design. The most enduring method in Britain is done by hand, and is known as 'piecing over paper'. A pattern is first drawn onto paper and then accurately cut. Small pieces of fabric are tacked round each of the shapes, and then joined together from the back using overstitch. Geometric shapes produce some of the most striking examples.
Quilting is a method of stitching layers of material together and usually consists of a decorative top, a middle layer of wadding or batting which adds warmth to the quilt and a bottom layer, usually made from one piece of fabric.
This is one of the few patchwork quilts of completely plain fabrics in the V&A's collection. The design of the quilt mixes early and late traditions, with a formal, framed centre made of repeating six-point stars and hexagons. The use of plain silk dress fabrics for this patchwork quilt has provided a design of vibrant contrasting colours, with surprising combinations such as bright blue and brown. The colours used provide a perfect display of fashionable British taste in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
When the quilt was donated to the museum in 1937, it was said to have been worked by the donor's ancestor, Sarah Tomes (1792-1870), at around the time of her marriage in 1813. The brightly coloured silks are typical of those from the third quarter of the nineteenth century, and it may be that Sarah Tomes made the quilt towards the end of her life.
Quilting is a method of stitching layers of material together and usually consists of a decorative top, a middle layer of wadding or batting which adds warmth to the quilt and a bottom layer, usually made from one piece of fabric.
This is one of the few patchwork quilts of completely plain fabrics in the V&A's collection. The design of the quilt mixes early and late traditions, with a formal, framed centre made of repeating six-point stars and hexagons. The use of plain silk dress fabrics for this patchwork quilt has provided a design of vibrant contrasting colours, with surprising combinations such as bright blue and brown. The colours used provide a perfect display of fashionable British taste in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.
When the quilt was donated to the museum in 1937, it was said to have been worked by the donor's ancestor, Sarah Tomes (1792-1870), at around the time of her marriage in 1813. The brightly coloured silks are typical of those from the third quarter of the nineteenth century, and it may be that Sarah Tomes made the quilt towards the end of her life.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pieced and quilted silk |
| Brief description | Patchwork quilt, silk, 1850-75. English. Stars and hexagons. |
| Physical description | Quilted patchwork of plain weave silks. Alternating circular frames of six point stars and hexagons radiate outwards from a central star of gold patches. The quilt is wadded with cotton and has a reverse of pale brown cotton. It is quilted in running stitch in brown cotton thread in a trellis design. |
| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Amy Tomes |
| Object history | This bed cover was donated to the museum along with T.77-1937, T.78-1937 and T.79-1937 by Miss Amy E Tomes (b.1876) daughter of Lady Elizabeth (Lizzie) Tomes (d.1935) and Sir Charles Sissmore Tomes (1846-1928). The family house at South Littleton existed in a largely unaltered state when the quilts were donated in 1937. Sarah Tomes was the daughter of William Baylies of Welford in Gloucestershire. She married John Tomes (1791-1864), a farmer, in around 1813. Their son, John Tomes (1815-1895), was born at The Sands, Weston-no-Avon, in Gloucestershire, on 21 March 1815. John Tomes became a dental surgeon, and was knighted in 1886. He married Jane Sibley (1823-1904), daughter of Robert Sibley, architect, on 15th February 1844. Of their two sons, only the youngest (Charles Sissmore Tomes) survived. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Patchwork is a needlework technique where small pieces of cut out fabric shapes are sewn together to produce a decorative design. The most enduring method in Britain is done by hand, and is known as 'piecing over paper'. A pattern is first drawn onto paper and then accurately cut. Small pieces of fabric are tacked round each of the shapes, and then joined together from the back using overstitch. Geometric shapes produce some of the most striking examples. Quilting is a method of stitching layers of material together and usually consists of a decorative top, a middle layer of wadding or batting which adds warmth to the quilt and a bottom layer, usually made from one piece of fabric. This is one of the few patchwork quilts of completely plain fabrics in the V&A's collection. The design of the quilt mixes early and late traditions, with a formal, framed centre made of repeating six-point stars and hexagons. The use of plain silk dress fabrics for this patchwork quilt has provided a design of vibrant contrasting colours, with surprising combinations such as bright blue and brown. The colours used provide a perfect display of fashionable British taste in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. When the quilt was donated to the museum in 1937, it was said to have been worked by the donor's ancestor, Sarah Tomes (1792-1870), at around the time of her marriage in 1813. The brightly coloured silks are typical of those from the third quarter of the nineteenth century, and it may be that Sarah Tomes made the quilt towards the end of her life. |
| Bibliographic reference | Linda Parry, A Practical Guide to Patchwork from the Victoria and Albert Collection (London, 1987) pp.58-9 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.76-1937 |
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| Record created | August 4, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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