1849 Elspeth Duigan's White-work Quilted Counterpane
date: label: date made
content: 1849
name: label: maker
content: Duigan, Elspeth
notes: label: Description
content: Elspeth Duigan crafted this fine example of a white-work quilt in 1849. She divided the center into 8 large and 4 small squares each enclosing stuffed floral motifs. According to family information, she quilted the initials “E.D.” in one of the corner squares and it incorporates the date “1849” with the edge of the square a “1”, the “E” is also an “8,” the “4” is represented by the “D” (the fourth letter of the alphabet), and “9” is the top part of the “D”. The lining is a very thin cotton layer, and the motif stuffing is cotton and cotton cord. All the motifs are outlined in quilting. The background is quilted with parallel diagonal lines 3/16-inch apart, 13-14 stitches per inch.
label: Description
content: Elspeth Duigan was born in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1831. She married Mr. Thompson in Jamestown and later they moved to Lexington, Kentucky. During the Civil War they moved further West to Lexington, Missouri. Elspeth died in 1894.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Virginia, Jamestown Island, Jamestown
topic: label: Subject
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Quilts
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. Georgia Jacobs
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.0682.01
label: catalog number
content: 1981.0682.01
label: accession number
content: 1981.0682
objectType: label: Object Name
content: quilt
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 88 in x 81 in; 224 cm x 206 cm