Stuffed quilt

The initial impression of simplicity conveyed by this elegant, monochromatic coverlet, probably made for a bed or table, belies the intense skill and virtuoso technique demanded of its creator. Historically described as “whitework,” this is a whole-cloth quilt (as opposed to a pieced or “patchwork” quilt). It is distinguished by a total absence of colored pigment: instead, the decorative and figurative design is achieved on a bleached white support via quilted stitching, with additional relief created by highlighting and shadowing by inserting cords and pellets of stuffing between layers of support. Requiring considerably more skill and dexterity to stitch than pieced quilts, works like this were conventionally regarded in Europe as more subtle and tasteful than patchwork pieces. Distinguished by its crisp and legible design of floral posies set within a diaper-patterned ground, this is representative of the types of motifs popular on the Italian and Iberian peninsulas and in southern France, where this technique is traditionally believed to have originated. The stitching is so fine that at first glance this might be confused with nineteenth-century machine-loomed imitations of stuffed and corded work–so called “Marseilles quilts”–if it were not for the tiny hand-stitching articulating the design detectable on its reverse.