18th Century Wholecloth Quilts

Last updated: Nov 29, 2022

Johnson defines a quilt as “a cover made by stitching one cloth over another with some soft substance between them.” These 18th century wholecloth quilts (unlike pieced quilts or patchwork quilts) are generally made of a single material on the top, though many use a different material for the lining. Since there are many extant wholecloth quilts in the 18th century, and they’re all of fairly similar manufacture, I’m grouping them by the type of fabric on the uppermost layer.

Several quilts are inditialed and/or dated using the same sort of cross stitch as laundry marks. Some 18th century wholecloth quilts were upcycled into clothing, especially women's quilted petticoats.

Wool

• Jeffrey S. Evans Jul 16 2016, red wool whole cloth quilt, America / Wales, 18th century
• Historic Deerfield 2019.32, wholecloth quilt featuring a face fabric made with red plain-weave wool camlet, probably New England, c. 1700-1750
• Historic Deerfield F.258, wholecloth red plain weave wool (tammy) quilt, made in America c. 1725-1750
• Colonial Williamsburg 1954-757, blue worsted wholecloth quilt, New England, c. 1740-1775
• Colonial Williamsburg 1957-13, blue worsted wholecloth quilt fragment, America, c. 1740-1790
• Colonial Williamsburg 1959-11, pink worsted wholecloth quilt, New York, c. 1740-1790
• Met 45.107, rust-colored calamanco wholecloth quilt, New England, c. 1750
• Colonial Williamsburg 1954-715, dark green wholecloth quilt, America or England, c. 1740-1790
• Winterthur 1969.0560, New England, c. 1740-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1962-190, blue worsted wholecloth quilt, possibly New England, c. 1750-1790
• American History Museum 28810, indigo wool whole cloth quilt, Connecticut, c. 1750-1800
• Winterthur 1954.0065.008, Connecticut or Massachusetts, c. 1750-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1952-204,1, pink worsted wholecloth quilt, possibly New England, c. 1750-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1966-419, pink worsted wholecloth quilt, probably New Hampshire, c. 1750-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1953-951, yellow worsted wholecloth quilt, probably America, c. 1750-1820
• Colonial Williamsburg 1951-224, blue and green worsted wholecloth quilt, England or New England, c. 1760-1790
• Historic Deerfield F.011, wholecloth blue plain weave wool (tammy) quilt, probably Massachusetts or Vermont, c. 1760-1800
• Historic Deerfield 2009.4, wholecloth blue glazed twill-weave wool (shalloon) quilt, Massachusetts, c. 1760-1800
• American Independence Museum 2011.109, pink calamanco quilt made in Britain or America, c. 1765-1800
• McCord Stewart Museum M22454, blue calamanco quilt made by Sarah Brown (?) c. 1770 in North America
• Colonial Williamsburg 1971-1369, gray-aqua worsted wholecloth quilt, possibly New England, c. 1770-1790
• Winter Associates Oct 3 2022, dark blue whole-cloth wool quilt, possibly Connecticut, 1770-1810
• Met 62.26, possibly Massachusetts, c. 1775-1790
• Colonial Williamsburg 1955-93, pink worsted wholecloth quilt, possibly New England, c. 1775-1800
• Historic Deerfield F.575, wholecloth blue glazed plain weave wool (tammy) quilt, New England, 1775-1810
• Winterthur 1960.0702, green worsted wholecloth quilt, New England, c. 1775-1825
• Met 58.41, rust-colored wholecloth calamanco quilt, probably New York, c. 1780
• Historic New England 1990.192, dark blue glazed wool calamanco whole cloth quilt, probably Connecticut, c. 1780-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1986-140, worsted wholecloth quilt (c. 1780-1800) backed with overshot coverlet (c. 1750-1780), America
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.32, wholecloth quilt of olive green wool, late 18th century
• Historic New England 1927.34, pink wool whole cloth quilt, Massachusetts, c. 1780-1810
• Historic New England 1927.2306, green wool whole cloth quilt, Massachusetts, c. 1780-1820
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.28, wholecloth dark blue wool quilt, New England, c. 1780-1820
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.1, eggplant-colored wholecloth quilt, cotton warp and wool weft, c. 1780-1820
• Colonial Williamsburg 1957-121, blue wool wholecloth quilt, possibly New England, c. 1780-1830
• Historic New England 1952.278, blue tabby wool whole cloth quilt, c. 1780-1830
• Historic New England 1963.223, navy blue twilled wool whole cloth quilt, probably Maine, c. 1780-1830
• Historic New England 1917.1443B & =1917.1443, red wool whole cloth quilt fragments, c. 1780-1830
• Met 1980.454, red calamanco wholecloth quilt, England or possibly Connecticut, c. 1785-1810
• Historic New England 1942.1120, blue tabby wool whole cloth quilt, Connecticut, c. 1785-1810
• Connecticut Historial Society 1952.76.0, blue calamanco wholecloth quilt, Connecticut or Massachusetts, c. 1787
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.30, indigo wool wholecloth quilt, 1789
• American History Museum 1973.308057, indigo-blue glazed wool quilt, Massachusetts, c. 1790-1799
• Historic New England 1964.379, green glazed twill wool whole cloth quilt, New Hampshire, c. 1790-1815
• Historic Deerfield F.574, wholecloth blue glazed plain weave wool (tammy) quilt, New England, c. 1790-1820
• Historic New England 1960.105, peach-colored wool damask, Massachusetts, 1790-1830
• Colonial Williamsburg 1952-116, blue wool and cotton wholecloth quilt, probably America, c. 1790-1830
• Colonial Williamsburg 1959-129, pink-red worsted wholecloth quilt, probably New England, 1791
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.36, dark blue calamanco wholecloth quilt, Massachusetts, 1793
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.107.18, wholecloth olive-green calamanco quilt, New Hampshire, 1795

Printed Cotton and/or Linen

• Colonial Williamsburg 1973-53, made in Europe from an Indian textile, 1740-1800
• Colonial Williamsburg 1964-453, indigo resist printed cotton, possibly Connecticut, c. 1750-1765
• Colonial Williamsburg 1955-175, resist-printed indigo blue and white cotton, New York, 1750-1770
• Connecticut Historical Society 1963.11.17, glazed blue and white copperplate-printed cotton, America, c. 1750-1775
• Historic Deerfield F.005, block-printed cotton-linen, England or United States, c. 1760-1770
• Historic Deerfield F.087, resist-printed cotton-linen, England or United States, c. 1760-1770
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.23.172, wholecloth printed cotton quilt in a rose and brown floral design on white, c. 1760-1790
• Colonial Williamsburg 1973-3, copperplate-printed cotton-linen, possibly made in New York, c. 1765-1775
• Winterthur 1955.0656 J, K, indigo resist-printed wholecloth quilt, England or America, c. 1765-1775
• Winterthur 1958.0061.005, copperplate-printed cotton-linen, c. 1765-1775
• Colonial Williamsburg 1953-1048, copperplate-printed linen wholecloth quilt, England, c. 1770
• Cooper Hewitt 1960-145-1, copperplate-printed cotton quilt, England or America, 18th century
• Wholecloth block print chintz quilt made in Massachusetts c. 1780
• Colonial Williamsburg 1971-132, copperplate-printed cotton wholecloth quilt, c. 1780-1810
• Jeffrey S. Evans Jul 16 2016 and Cooper Hewitt 1934-9-1, , copperplate-printed cotton (Apotheosis of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington), c. 1780-1810
• Winterthur 1952.0325.001, indigo resist-printed cotton made in England c. 1770 and made into a wholecloth quilt probably in New York c. 1780-1810
• Historic New England 1992.382, indigo resist print linen, Massachusetts, c. 1780-1820
• American Folk Art Museum 1995.13.3, copperplate-printed linen-cotton whole-cloth quilt, probably England, c. 1785-1790
• Colonial Williamsburg 1958-406, dark indigo and white resist-printed cotton, France, 1785-1830
• Met 10.125.411, printed cotton-linen (copperplate-printed toile) wholecloth quilt, possibly England or America, c. 1790
• Met 45.145, copperplate-printed cotton (in a red design on one side and a blue design on the other side), probably England, c. 1790
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.23.82, wholecloth quilt made of copperplate-printed linen and cotton, c. 1790
• Winterthur 1955.0637.005, wholecloth quilt made from an Indian palampore on one side and a cotton fabric printed in France c. 1795 on the other
• National Museum of American Museum 277125, indigo resist-dyed cotton, Connecticut, c. 1790-1810
• Colonial Williamsburg 1955-176, resist-dyed indigo and white cotton, New York, 18th century

Silk

• Winterthur 1954.0049, Europe, 17th century
• MFA 49.886, pinkish-red silk whole cloth bedcover, probably England, late 17th or early 18th century
• 18th century silk wholecloth quilt in cream-colored silk
• Colonial Williamsburg 1976-1959, blue silk and printed cotton wholecloth quilt, Pennsylvania, 1736
• Met 1999.352, green silk wholecloth quilt, England, 1747
• Colonial Williamsburg 1952-572, green silk wholecloth quilt, England or New England, c. 1730-1750
• Winterthur 1952.0341.004, England, c. 1775-1810
• Historic New England 1925.6, c. 1780-1820, gold silk whole cloth quilt, c. 1780-1820
• Historic New England 1964.379, aqua blue silk whole cloth quilt, England, c. 1780-1820
• Old Sturbridge Village 26.113.2, turquoise wholecloth silk quilt for a cradle or crib, New England, c. 1790-1820

Linsey-woolsey

• Jeffrey S. Evans Jul 16 2016, blue linsey woolsey (or linen?) whole-cloth quilt, America, 18th century
• Bonhams Skinner Oct 14 2021, brown linsey woolsey whole cloth quilt, 18th century
• Bowers Museum 37075, blue linsey-woolsey wholecloth quilt, America, 1776
• MESDA 471.6, olive-green linsey-woolsey quilted bedcovering, America, c. 1775-1800
• Homespun cochineal-dyed linsey woolsey quilt, North Carolina, c. 1780-1820
• Spencer Museum of Art 1928.0932, dull green linsey-woolsey counterpane, made in the United States c. 1780-1830
• South Bay Auctions May 21 2022, indigo linsey woolsey whole cloth quilt, c. 1790-1810
• Skinner Feb 17 2008, gold linsey woolsey whole cloth quilt, America, late 18th/early 19th century
• Linda Rose Antiques, indigo blue linsey woolsey whole cloth bedcover, late 18th or early 19th century

White Linen (Whitework)

• 18th century quilted piece
• National Trust 454682, c. 1700
• Cot quilt c. 1700-1710
• V&A T.616-1996, England, 1709
• American History Museum 1979.0184, white linen, New York, 1760
• National Trust 414505, England, second half of the 18th century