Quilting and decorative needle work was practiced from the highest to the humblest.
Among the earliest known surviving bed quilts is the famous "Tristan" quilt from Sicily, dating from the end of the fourteenth century.
This is an example of what is called "whole cloth" quilting, in which a piece of solid white or colored cloth is used instead of pieced work or other techniques. The beauty of these elegant quilts comes from elaborate, often tightly quilted motifs which provide both texture and decoration.
The technique requires highly skilled needlework. Generally only women of the upper classes, or their ladies and servants had the time to develop skills of this level. Some featured floral, feathered and/or geometric motifs, while others depicted artifacts, animals, and people. Many were based on popular tales from medieval lore or legend, the Bible, or other themes sung or recited by the wandering minstrels. The Tristan quilt is one such.
It is made of linen, padded with wool. The blocks across the center depict scenes from the legend of Tristan and Isolde. The quilt is 122" by 106". It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which also has a number of fascinating quilted pieces from Europe and Asia. Note the similarities of technique and design with the Bayeaux Tapestry (above).
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| To see a detail of the Tristan Quilt click here
In May of 1540, the tragic Katherine Howard received 23 quilts of quilted sarsenet (a type of silk) from the royal wardrobe as a sign of royal favor. In July, she and Henry VIII were married, and she was executed in 1542. An equally tragic queen with an interest in quilts was Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Her unfortunate marriage to the handsome (but apparently dim-witted and unpleasant) Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was terminated rather suddenly in 1567 when he spent the night in a house in Kirk-o'-Fields. Despite a nice bedspread of quilted taffeta, he did not spend a cozy evening, as the house was blown up (and presumably the bedspread as well!), and he was strangled - probably to, in the old Broad Scots parlance; "tae mak' siccar!" (to make sure). This, combined with several other problems she had developed since coming to Scotland, led to the rebellion that unseated her, and eventually left her a captive of her cousin, Elizabeth Tudor of England. At Hardwicke Hall, there is a fragment of a bed hanging and a quilt said to have been done by Mary, when she was imprisoned there. The hanging is applied patchwork, with cream-colored medallions and a design singed on to the light-colored velvet. The singed birds, flowers, and butterflies are outlined with black silk thread. The worked medallions are applied to a foundation of green velvet, ornamented between and around them with yellow silk cord. An attendant at the time wrote of her; "that all day she wrought with her nydil and that the diversity of the colors made the work seem less tedious and she continued so long at it that veray payn made hir to give over." Elizabeth I, who eventually had her executed, had a wardrobe list that included quilted dresses. There are many mentions in other period inventories, letters and lists of quilts and quilting. To illustrate: From an inventory at Kenilworth, seat of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, (one of Elizabeth's favorites) in 1584,: "Item a faire quilte of crymson sattin, vi breadths, iij yards 3 quarters raile deep, all lozenged over with silver twiste, in the midst of a cinquefoil with a garland of ragged staves, fringed aboute with a small fringe of cryson silke, lined with white fustion." From an inventory of goods with values from Sir John Perrott's Carew Castle in 1592: Item ij old quiltes of yellowe sercnet, xxs |
