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A truly beautiful and unusually elaborate antique Victorian crazy quilt, measuring approximately 60” x 60”. This striking quilt is composed primarily of colorful period silks, satins and velvets, with a rich burgundy velvet border.
What makes this quilt particularly special is the extraordinary amount and variety of hand embroidery. Throughout the quilt are countless tiny decorative stitches forming flowers, leaves, branches, geometric designs and elaborate ornamental seam treatments. Many of these stitches are remarkably fine and intricate and are difficult to fully appreciate until viewed closely.
The quilt also features wonderful larger embroidered motifs, including flowers, birds, floral sprays, a beautifully worked water lily and numerous other decorative designs. Different sections reveal entirely different combinations of fabrics, colors and embroidery. There is an exceptional amount of handwork throughout this piece.
Crazy quilting became especially fashionable during the late Victorian period, particularly in the 1880s. Fine silks, satins and velvets were arranged in imaginative patchwork designs and embellished with decorative hand embroidery, allowing the maker to display both creativity and needlework skill. This quilt is a particularly elaborate surviving example of that Victorian tradition.
The quilt retains its burgundy velvet perimeter and attractive gold/tan backing. The backing presents beautifully and appears very well preserved for its age.
CONDITION:
Considering its approximately 130+ years of age and delicate silk construction, this quilt remains remarkably beautiful and displays very well overall. The colors, extensive embroidery, decorative stitching, velvet border, and the great majority of the fabrics remain visually impressive.
As expected with a Victorian-era silk textile of this age, there are scattered age-related imperfections, including localized silk splitting/shattering, thinning, small tears, and wear to some individual fabric areas. Three corners show areas of age-related wear, and there are additional smaller imperfections in various places throughout the quilt.
Due to the limited number of photos allowed, it was not possible to individually photograph every small imperfection.
Please enlarge and zoom in on all photos for a close examination of the fabrics, embroidery, stitching, and overall condition. The photographs show representative areas of wear, and additional minor age-related imperfections may be present.
Despite these age-related issues, the quilt retains tremendous visual impact and an extraordinary amount of its intricate hand embroidery and fine decorative detail. The gold-toned backing is especially well preserved and presents beautifully.
This is an antique textile and has not been professionally evaluated or conserved. It is being offered in its existing antique condition.
Please review all photos carefully, as they are part of the description and show the exact condition of the item.
