Quilt
PeriodCirca 1870 and completed circa 1912
Place MadePhiladelphia and Middletown, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumVarious silks, velvet, cotton sateen
Dimensions60 × 52 in. (152.4 × 132.1 cm)
ClassificationsQuilts and Coverlets
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Campbell Rudner, 1993
Object number1993.2.7
DescriptionA quilt in the Tumbling Blocks pattern, using many varieties of solid and printed silks alternating with black velvet. The quilt includes a bright pink cotton sateen backing and thin cotton batting.Curatorial RemarksThe "Tumbling Blocks" pattern, also known as "Baby Blocks," was introduced to American quilters as early as an 1851 issue of Godey's Lady's Book. The design of diamond shaped elements arranged to form a three dimensional optical illusion of depth was known for centuries, including marble and wood flooring in Greece, Rome, and throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. After the Civil War, American quilters embraced the pattern as part of the "crazy quilt" era, where silks, satins, velvets, and brocades were combined in dizzying patterns often enhanced with embroidery and needlework. Charlotte Wikoff created this quilt out of dozens of dress silk scraps. Tumbling Blocks was a tricky and demanding pattern, as the bias cut pieces needed stabilization to avoid "warping" or pulling the small scraps of fabric. Silk quilts of this type were not made for utility or warmth, but instead as colorful and eye-catching decor accents. Draped over a parlor settee or sofa, silk quilts displayed the needlework talents and patience of their makers. It was also not uncommon for unfinished quilt tops to be handed down through families until a daughter, granddaughter, or other female relative decided to complete the panel. The Association has several examples of this generational quilting tradition.NotesQuilts often have stories as intricate as their patterns. This "Tumbling Blocks" pattern was made by Charlotte Emily (Emilia) Wikoff. Born in 1803 in Philadelphia, Charlotte showed off her needlework skills by producing this colorful and intricate quilt. Of a relatively small size (60 by 52 inches); the use of dozens of plain and patterned silk, satin, velvet, and brocade scraps required Charlotte to wrap the fabric around paper pieces, then basted in place. Charlotte then carefully whip stitched the pieces together. The fabrics were cut "on the bias," rather than along the grain (warp/weft angle), and without the paper support it was easy to pull the diamond-shaped scraps out of alignment. Charlotte apparently did not finish the quilt. At some point, the unfinished panel ended up in her sister Isabella Wikoff Field's home. In or around 1912, her great niece Julia Hendrickson Field decided to complete the quilt, finishing the panel and adding cotton batting, a bright pink backing, and simple linear quilting. Julia attended the Freehold Young Ladies Seminary and graduated in 1855. This may well be the quilt noted in a Red Bank Daily Register newspaper article about the Women's Exhibit entries at the Monmouth County Fair in September, 1912. Julia's quilt won second place for the "pieced silk quilt" category. Julia H. Field died a tragic death on September 25, 1920, when the carriage in which she was riding, driven by her father Major Joseph T. Field, was struck by a train bound for the Red Bank train station. The quilt passed to her brother, Walter Field.
Collections
ProvenanceCharlotte Emiily Wikoff (1803-1877) to her niece Isabella Wikoff Field (1840-1906) to her daughter Julia Hendrickson Field (1864-1920)
