Woman's Calamanco Quilted Petticoat
Subject
Clothing and Dress
Title
Woman's Calamanco Quilted Petticoat
Date
1790 - 1870
Format
36 inches long (91.5 cm); hem circumference 88 inches (223.4 cm); hand quilted at 8 stitches per inch (2.5 cm); diamond quilt pattern measures 1 1/2 inches square; the garment is constructed of 7 panels measuring 14 1/2 inches wide (36.8 cm), with 1/2-inch seam allowance.
Description
The donors of this quilted petticoat suggested that it was “probably worn by Martha Cross Browning or her daughter Anne or Elizabeth Browning who lived in the Homestead, Matunuck, R. I.” Based on this information, it was assigned a date of 1840 to 1870. This date is contradicted by its style and construction, suggesting that the petticoat was created and worn by Martha Cross (1767–1808).
Examination reveals that it was reworked into a more modern style at some time. The petticoat is made from a red-brown satin weave calamanco fabric with a coarse hand. The warps of the calamanco fabric are a blended yarn of merino wool and mohair while the weft yarn is only merino wool. The interior fabric appears to be handspun and hand-woven wool with an unbleached ground and dark and light blue stripes. The batting used in the petticoat is also merino wool. When laid flat the petticoat is merely a large rectangle, a style which was popular around 1790. This style of petticoat typically had a circumference of 85” to 118” at the hem.
At one time the petticoat had two plackets at side seams to allow access to detached pockets. One of these plackets has been closed up. In the eighteenth century, quilted petticoats had pocket slits on both sides (Baumgarten 2012: 34). During the nineteenth century, petticoats were worn with the opening in the back. Only servants and the elderly would have worn the plackets on the side (A Lady 2002: 73). Twill tape along the hem and placket, and the pocket slit that has been sewn shut, support the theory that the petticoat had multiple owners. It was probably Martha’s daughters, Anne or Elizabeth, who reworked and wore the petticoat.
Martha Cross and her husband Christopher Browning belonged to the Society of Friends, a Quaker group (Putnam 1995: 1). Quaker ethics of pacifism, frugality, equality, and simplicity were exemplified in their dress. Alice Morse Earle states that the dress of Quakers was “simply the dress of everyday with all the extravagances left out” (Earle 1970 [1903]: 600). Christopher, Martha, and their children were Quakers who lived and worked on the family farm located in the southern part of Rhode Island. They produced flax and wool to spin and weave into fabrics (Putnam 1995: 45). Despite the growing availability of factory-woven textiles the family continued to weave their own.
Baumgarten, Linda. Costume Close Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750–1790 (Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1999).
Earle, Alice Morse. Two Centuries of Costume in America 1620-1820 (New York: Dover, 1970 [1903]).
Putnam, Gail Bliss “Browning Family: Textile Legacy of a Narragansett Planter.” Unpublished master’s thesis (University of Rhode Island, 1995).
Examination reveals that it was reworked into a more modern style at some time. The petticoat is made from a red-brown satin weave calamanco fabric with a coarse hand. The warps of the calamanco fabric are a blended yarn of merino wool and mohair while the weft yarn is only merino wool. The interior fabric appears to be handspun and hand-woven wool with an unbleached ground and dark and light blue stripes. The batting used in the petticoat is also merino wool. When laid flat the petticoat is merely a large rectangle, a style which was popular around 1790. This style of petticoat typically had a circumference of 85” to 118” at the hem.
At one time the petticoat had two plackets at side seams to allow access to detached pockets. One of these plackets has been closed up. In the eighteenth century, quilted petticoats had pocket slits on both sides (Baumgarten 2012: 34). During the nineteenth century, petticoats were worn with the opening in the back. Only servants and the elderly would have worn the plackets on the side (A Lady 2002: 73). Twill tape along the hem and placket, and the pocket slit that has been sewn shut, support the theory that the petticoat had multiple owners. It was probably Martha’s daughters, Anne or Elizabeth, who reworked and wore the petticoat.
Martha Cross and her husband Christopher Browning belonged to the Society of Friends, a Quaker group (Putnam 1995: 1). Quaker ethics of pacifism, frugality, equality, and simplicity were exemplified in their dress. Alice Morse Earle states that the dress of Quakers was “simply the dress of everyday with all the extravagances left out” (Earle 1970 [1903]: 600). Christopher, Martha, and their children were Quakers who lived and worked on the family farm located in the southern part of Rhode Island. They produced flax and wool to spin and weave into fabrics (Putnam 1995: 45). Despite the growing availability of factory-woven textiles the family continued to weave their own.
References
A Lady, The Workwoman's Guide (Easton, CT: Piper Pub., 2002 [1838]).Baumgarten, Linda. Costume Close Up: Clothing Construction and Pattern, 1750–1790 (Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1999).
Earle, Alice Morse. Two Centuries of Costume in America 1620-1820 (New York: Dover, 1970 [1903]).
Putnam, Gail Bliss “Browning Family: Textile Legacy of a Narragansett Planter.” Unpublished master’s thesis (University of Rhode Island, 1995).
Source
Donor: Harold and Mary Browning
Identifier
URI 1970.01.40
Contributor
Katie Lukens
Relation
Browning Collection
Medium
brown merino wool and mohair blend
natural, dark and light blue merino wool
wool twill tape
natural, dark and light blue merino wool
wool twill tape
Collection
Citation
“Woman's Calamanco Quilted Petticoat,” Historic Textile and Costume Collection, accessed April 26, 2024, https://uritextilecollection.omeka.net/items/show/79.