Antique Hand Woven 18th Century Linsey Woolsey Quilt Start Price USD 799.95 Current Price USD 799.95 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, July 15, 2008 End Time Tuesday, July 22, 2008 Location McPherson, Kansas See more about 'Antique Hand Woven 18th Century Linsey Woolsey Quilt' Description Antique Hand Woven 18th Century Linsey Woolsey Quilt This large early museum quality linsey woolsey came from a collection in Maine owned by an antique dealer who had this as a keeper.  Purchased before he died, he said it was the earliest he had ever owned and it was bought by him 60 years ago.  He seriously even wondered if the woven red pieces were from the British Redcoat uniforms, which were legend to be used for such.      This has never been offered before to the public and could quite possibly be made in the later half of the 1700's. All the materials are wonderful heavy home spun woven, and may actually even be all wool with little linen flax. This huge textile measures 109" wide at widest and 114" long at longest.  It weights a hefty 11+ pounds, so would keep anyone quite warm in New England winters!  Even the red taping all around the edges was hand-loomed, as well as the backing side. Of course all the thread in piecing this together and the deep quilting patterns are all of the same dyed homespun, too.     The colors are rich and deep.  Some photos may look lighter than in life, due to flash, but the reds, blues, and blacks are not faded and are all quite bright.  Notice the subtle navy blues and nearly chocolate blacks are carefully placed for the design.  With the strong red and blues, this looks quite patriotic.  The quilting of the large squares are in rows only 1" apart, but may not show in photos as strong as the deep stitching patterns show in life. The piecing of the red triangles and blue triangles are amazingly exact in their patchwork care, too.  Obviously all done by a master of these textiles. And no repairs or stitching in last roughly 200 years, either.  Doesn't look like it was ever used, and no fading to top or one side as often happens.     A museum piece by all standards, it deserves to be carefully repaired, as you can see it has suffered either from some mice bites or moths at some time. It is clean, and slight smell of mothballs, and was rescued in time to be housed in a plastic box the last few years.  It would take some real loving time to mend the tiny holes together, or find some early hand-woven scraps to fix. The holes can be counted, as they are not like moth damage that has eaten through the quilt.  Looks more like tiny clean-edged bites. See close-ups.  It would take far less time to mend the holes than it did to quilt together this amazing bed cover.  Almost the heft of a bed rug.     The corners made to go around the bedposts are such that this must have been for a great tall bed.  When this is seen in real life, it fills the room with its presence, and one does not see the holes as effecting it.  No holes need fixing to use this or display this as it is still a very strong textile with no wear or pulls.  This is returnable if not pleased and awestruck by this magnificent time capsule.  This is a huge grand knock-out of a masterpiece linsey woolsey.  It commands a room, and will command a house or museum setting, too.  Just know it has these holes to conserve if wanted.  It would be the cover of any auction catalog in New York if mended, but like a battled Old Glory flag, this is such a proud item just as it is for another 200 years.  It was so very hard to get threads in the days when this grand quilt was made that you seldom find a quilt that is quilted and not tied.  The stitching was very carefully done and is very straight and uniform with aprox. 5 to 6 stitches per inch.  This is amazing since the fabrics and batting are so thick.  The hand quilting is truely a work of art! This will make a very pretty quilt to keep you warm on those cold winter nights, or could be used for display.  This would be very nice for a lake house or cabin.  This is photographed on a king size bed.   There are many years of use left in this wonderful old quilt. I am always glad to combine shipping on multiple items purchased within 5 days of each other. Thank you for your interest in this item. Please take the time to look at the other vintage linens and collectibles in my store.  View My Other Items For Sale We accept paypal, money orders, cashiers checks, and personal checks.  If you choose to send your personal check, we will cheerfully ship when the payment clears our bank.  Winning bidder is to make payment within 5 days of auction close. We strongly suggest you purchase shipping insurance on all purchases.  We will not be held responsible for items lost or damaged during shipping.     I will ship via USPS.  Shipping charges can be figured on the calculator below.  I do require shipping insurance on all pottery and glass items. I list new items for auction almost every day.  I try to maintain a wide selection of vintage linens in my store at all times.   Your satisfaction is very important to me.  If you have questions, please ask. I am glad to offer combined shipping on multiple wins and purchases made within five days of each other. I carefully inspect each item that I list and describe exactly what I see.  I might miss something small, but try to be very accurate.  Certain images/photos incorporated into this template are the royalty free property of Karen's Whimsy Public Domain Images. Place a Bid!