An Evening with Gerald Roy
and his Antique Quilts
by Patricia Cummings
As you can see in the photo, there are three quilts on the stage with the speaker. The one on the far left, a flag quilt from Hawaii made circa 1890, represents one of few of that design in existence today.
The quilt hanging in the middle is a stunning 1847 Baltimore Album appliqué quilt. This quilt was surely the queen of the evening with its elaborate and finely wrought floral wreaths, flower vases, birds, and appliquéd borders.
The third quilt on the far right in the photo, was referred to as the “Portsmouth Quilt,” and was made circa 1820 by Elizabeth Chase who was born in 1796. This quilt is a combination of LeMoyne Star blocks which alternate with Chintz blocks, all set on point. The quilt has extremely wide chintz borders, and cut outs for a four poster bed. Documentation on the back of a quilt makes it more valuable. Gerald stresses that it is important for today’s quiltmakers to remember to add their own provenance information to quilts being made today. photo by James Cummings
Gerald Roy's Talk About the Pilgrim/Roy Collection
On the evening of March 20, 2003, we braved the rain to drive twenty minutes along back roads to the Town Hall of Warner, New Hampshire, to hear a talk by quilt collector and appraiser, Gerald Roy. The folks who came in spite of the inclement weather were enthusiastic and eager to see and to hear about the lovely antique quilts and other related items that the speaker brought to show.
He and his late partner, Paul Pilgrim, amassed an amazing number of high quality antique quilts, now called the Pilgrim/Roy Collection. Roy's book, Vintage Quilts: Identifying, Collecting, Dating, Preserving & Valuing, (Collector Books, Schroeder Publishing, 2002), was co-written with Bobbie Aug and (the late) Sharon Newman.
In lieu of presenting the planned talk, “Woman’s Work is Never Done,” Gerald centered his presentation on defining what a quilt is, and what it is not. He provided about thirty textile examples to illustrate the talk. He stated that neither woven coverlets, nor unfinished quilt tops, nor tied comforters, are true quilts. “A quilt must be quilted to be a quilt.” Throughout the talk, he explained the aesthetic reasoning behind the acquisition of the quilts in his particular collection.
The collection featured a wide range of quilt sizes, from tiny doll bed quilts to several crib and youth quilts. Roy also showed some full bed size quilts. Among the antique examples were two pieced quilts, “Ocean Waves,” and “Delectable Mountains,” and an appliqué quilt, “Prince’s Feather.”
An audible gasp was heard from the audience, when the two white glove ladies assisting Gerald held up a stunning and heavily-quilted Broderie d’ Marseilles coverlet, equally beautiful on both sides. One side of was yellow and the other was light orange or "peach." Getting equal attention was an all-white, wholecloth, "stuffed work” piece. This traditional technique, often called trapunto or Italian quilting. We enjoyed seeing all of the quilts.
Patricia & James Cummings
March 21, 2003
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Copyright 2003. Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. pat@quiltersmuse.com