Object Details
maker
unknown
Description
Friends of Mary Elizabeth Hitchcock Seamans created this quilt of fifty-six 9½-inch blocks, possibly on the occasion of her marriage to Stephen Harris Seamans in 1864, or possibly before they left for Wisconsin. All but 8 of the blocks contain either embroidered or inked names of friends and family.
The blocks are made of printed and white cottons in the “Friendship Chain,” or “Album,” pattern. The border has machine-stitched initials “MES,” a back-stitched date “May 4th,” and the hand quilted year “1864.” One block has a tiny pair of embroidered mittens which according to the family represented a suitor Mary had rejected; she had “given him the mitten,” a phrase popular in the 19th century.
This Album Quilt is one of three quilts donated from the same family.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Margaret Seamans Birch
date made
1864
1869
ID Number
TE.T13542
catalog number
T13542
accession number
257115
Object Name
quilt
Physical Description
fabric, cotton (overall material)
thread, cotton, silk (overall material)
filling, cotton (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 87 in x 83 in; 221 cm x 210 cm
place made
United States
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Textiles
Textiles
Domestic Furnishings
Quilts
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Quilting
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_556437