A design of very remarkable beauty. Over 100 years old

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UNKNOWN STAR

A New England quilt about 115 years old. Colours: once bright red and green are now old rose and dull green. The original quilting designs are very beautiful

John Locke, 1632-1704, a very famous man of Charles II’s time, and one of the greatest philosophers and ardent champions of civil and religious rights which England ever produced, mentioned quilts in his “Thoughts Concerning Education.” In telling of the correct sort of beds for children he writes as follows: “Let his Bed be hard, and rather Quilts than Feathers. Hard Lodging strengthens the Parts, whereas being buryed every Night in Feathers melts and dissolves the Body.... Besides, he that is used to hard Lodging at Home will not miss his Sleep (where he has most Need of it) in his travels Abroad for want of his soft Bed, and his Pillows laid in Order.”

Pepys, a contemporary of Locke, in his incomparable and delicious Diary, remarks: “Home to my poor wife, who works all day like a horse, at the making of her hanging for our chamber and bed,” thus telling us that he was following the fashion of the day in having wall, window, and bed draperies alike. It is plain, too, by his frequent “and so to bed,” that his place of sleep and rest was one of comfort in his house.

A quilt depending solely upon the stitching used in quilting, whether it be of the simple running stitch, the back stitch, or the chain stitch, is not particularly ornamental. However, when viewed at close range, the effect is a shadowy design in low relief that has a distinctive but modest beauty when well done. Early in the eighteenth century a liking for this fashion prevailed, and was put to a variety of uses. Frequently there was no interlining between the right and wrong sides. At Canons Ashby there are now preserved some handsome quilted curtains of this type, belonging to Sir Alfred Dryden, Baronet.