Description: One complete(two pieces not attached) coverlet exhibited at Dover Day(Delaware) and documented in a letter and photograph. The letter is signed by David Reyam, Supervisor, Index of American Design. Penned on the photograph is" Great Great Grandmother Mills, designer and maker. Tulip design with a floral border in natural and indigo dyes, fringe on three sides. Descended in the Mills/Drexler family until this offering.A third piece of a coverlet is included. Letter and photos accompany this lot.

History: Bed quilts and coverlets, appliquéd, pieced, embroidered, or woven, are some of the few handmade objects that were created by American women to express their artistry and skill. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, women of all social strata made quilts and coverlets. Although many of these were meant to be primarily utilitarian, they were often designed to be pleasing to the eye as well, and sometimes they were imbued with significance far beyond being simple covers for a bed. During the heyday of quiltmaking in the nineteenth century, America's increasingly mobile population was moving westward, settling in the wilderness. Easily portable, and certainly necessary, bedcovers might be some of the few decorative objects a woman had in her home. Bedcovers were often wedding gifts, or made by a young woman to take with her to her future husband's house. If that new home was distant from friends and family, a bedcover became an important keepsake from her old life. Quilts were also made to celebrate the birth of a child, as gifts to thank important members of the community such as the local minister, and even sometimes in the remembrance of the dead

Provenance: Elizabeth Mills Drexler

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 6.8 | Height(in) = 83 | Width(in) = 66 | Depth(in) = 0.5

Size of Artwork(in): 83 x 66"

Artist Name: Mills

Medium: Wool

Circa: mid-19th century

Separated two halves, can be sewn back together with no damages. Some light stains and extremely minor losses.