Rare and Important Four Seasons Quilt, with profuse Applique and Broderie Perse Decoration, Mid-Atlantic States, Likely New Jersey, Made by Jane Ann Bidwell (1799-1865), Jersey City, New Jersey, Ca: 1840
Many of the techniques used in the assembly of this remarkable quilt relate strongly to some of the best
quilts from the same period (1840-1860) found throughout the Mid-Atlantic States - from New York to
Maryland - at that time.
Divided into four separate and distinct panels, the imagery strongly suggests the passage of the four
seasons, beginning with barn swallows nesting in an oak tree through a bountiful cornucopia above a
holly. Flora and fauna abound across each panel, which include foxes, an owl, a chicken, bluebirds, barn
swallows, other birds (possibly cedar waxwings), butterflies and other insects, two nesting birds, flower
baskets for each season, oak, apple and cherry trees, roses, tulip flowers and more. What is particularly
unusual is the use of approximately 100 applied berries - each individually handmade and then sewn
upon the background separately.
The pieced cotton material used for the applique includes both vegetable-dyed solids, velvet and floral
cut-out cotton chintz used for the broderie perse decoration.
Apx. 6'8"l x 7'4"w