1855 - 1885 Laura Clark's Silk Patchwork Table Cover
date: label: date made
content: 1855-1865
name: label: quilter
content: Clark, Laura A. Baldwin
notes: label: Description
content: Laura Clark pieced 11½-inch blocks in a variation of the Log Cabin pattern also referred to as Pineapple or Chestnut Burr. Each of the blocks has a black center and corners. The pointed edges are bound in black velvet. The blocks are pieced with paper templates that are still in place over muslin foundation blocks, with a very thin cotton filling between the paper and the top fabric. The fabrics used include plain, striped, ribbed, pattern-woven, checked, printed, and brocaded silks as well as velvet, taffeta, cotton and ribbon. Many of the fabrics date from the 1850s and 1860s, but there are also fabrics from the 1870s and 1880s, suggesting that the piece was made in the 1880s using recycled fabrics. Herringbone, buttonhole, chain feather, cross and French knot embroidery stitches embellish the surface. The table cover is lined with a warp-printed, woven striped silk.
label: Description
content: Laura A. Baldwin was born in Rutland, Vermont in February 1834 and moved with her family to Pennsylvania as a young child. In about 1860 she married Chester B. Clark. Chester was born in Torringford, Connecticut in 1827 and had also moved with his family to Pennsylvania. In 1867 Laura and Chester Clark settled in Earlville, Illinois where they lived the rest of their lives. Chester was listed as a merchant and capitalist in the censuses and died in 1901. Laura's grandson, Chester Wells Clark donated the table cover to the Museum in 1951.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Quilting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Textiles
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Quilts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Chester Wells Clark
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T10972
label: accession number
content: 191408
label: catalog number
content: T10972
objectType: label: Object Name
content: table cover, pieced
label: Object Name
content: table cover, log cabin
label: Object Type
content: quilts
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric, silk, velvet, taffeta, ribbon, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread, silk, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: filling, cotton (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 64 in x 64 in; 163 cm x 163 cm