Old Quilts

Two days ago, I received an e-mail from quilt historian and noted author Merikay Waldvogel. She had seen the pictures of the Broderie Perse Chintz Medallion I'd just won in a Skinner auction, and said she thought my quilt was one of the quilts documented by Dr. Dunton in his book, Old Quilts.

"Dr. Who?" I thought to myself, typing the name into the google search box.

Dr. William Rush Dunton (1868-1966) was a psychiatrist and quilt collector from Baltimore, Maryland.  In addition to being a pioneer in the field of occupational therapy, he published books and papers, and curated exhibits of quilts. He used quilts in occupational therapy. In 1946 he self published "Old Quilts" at a personal loss of $3000. However, his efforts served to popularize Baltimore Album Quilts.

Today, Old Quilts is a collector's item and sells for at least $100 per copy. In the book, Dr. Dunton included the quilts of Achsah Goodwin Wilkins. Dr. Dunton documented 11 applique chintz medallions designed by Wilkins, which are pictured in black and white, and notes from an interview with one of Wilkins's granddaughters, Mary Dorsey Davis (1845-1939). 

Achsah Goodwin Wilkins (1775-1854) was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, William Goodwin, who had been involved with the textile trade for many years. She came from an Episcopal family but converted to Methodist and married a Methodist man, William Wilkins, Jr. (1767-1832). The family had a dry goods business, and she had great access to the best imported fabrics, with little worry about cost. 

The quilt owned by the Lassotovitch family, in color

At some point, Achsah Wilkins developed a terrible skin condition, which prevented her from sewing. It kept her awake at night, and she would spend time arranging pieces of chintz fabric as applique designs. Since she couldn't sew, she had African American women, possibly freed slaves living in her home or slaves of family members who lived nearby, who did the sewing.

It appears as though the chintz medallion I bought is one of the Achsah Wilkins counterpanes, and we think it's similar to the one owned by the Lassotovitch family, which appeared in color in Dena Katzenberg's book Baltimore Album Quilts.

We won't know for sure until Tuesday, when the package arrives at my house and I get to see the full quilt for the first time. If you look at the fern sprigs at the intersecting points of the outer swag, the inner swag and border, the center medallion and surrounding fruits and swags, and the Marseilles ground, it looks very promising.

Only three of Achsah Wilkins's applique chintz medallions are in known locations. Several of them are likely to be with descendants, but one is in the Smithsonian, another is in Colonial Williamsburg, and a third is at Andalusia. My quilt could be the fourth one to surface, and that would make it an extremely rare and wonderful thing. When I bid on it, I hoped it was decent enough to show as an example of Broderie Perse. Now, it looks as if I have unwittingly unearthed a national treasure.

A big thank you to Merikay, Barbara Brackman and Ronda McAllen for information about Achsah Wilkins and Dr. Dunton, and Lisa Ruetz for posting book plate photos on Facebook.