Redwork with a Message
Splashers, Pillow Shams and More!
Chapter 2
Collection of Patricia Cummings. Photo by James Cummings.
Vintage Splasher made on unknown ground material that, over time, has stretched.
Scripted Messages
A recently acquired splasher composed of unknown fibers is still charming, although severely distorted in shape. The bird bath scene with added words, “Splash, Splash,” is identical to a design that appears in M.J. Cunning's 1890 catalog.1
Words such as “Good Morning” and “Good Night” are often seen on Victorian Redwork splashers. Those decorative textiles were created at a time when water was hauled in from the well to be heated on the hearth, and to then be brought to a bedroom in a pitcher. An individual would stand in front of a wooden “wash stand,” to use a basin of water to wash up.2
The Redwork splasher was both utilitarian and decorative. In homes that had expensive wallpaper, a splasher helped to save it from ruin. Damp walls in unheated bedrooms would engender the growth of mold and mildew colonies, so the splasher was intended as a preventative measure of sorts.
“Good Morning,” "Good Night," or “Morning Dip,” are words that are typically seen on splashers. They often feature a water scene of some kind: cattails, water lilies, boats, bridges over water, herons, or children sitting at the beach, looking out to sea. Chicks floating down a stream in an upside down man's hat is a design that is present on a splasher in our collection. Later in this book, the same motif can be seen in the photos of the 1905 quilt, now owned by Judi Fibush.
Sighting at Historic Site: Splasher or Pillow Sham?
Historic Redwork "Good Morning" Splasher owned by the President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, Plymouth Notch, Vermont. photo by James Cummings
While visiting the President Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, we noticed a Redwork splasher, hanging in one of the bedrooms. How do we know that this piece of Redwork was used as a splasher? The two upper corners of the piece have rust marks from the tacks that were used to hold it in place vertically. That factor, along with widespread “foxing” on the surface, may indicate that the item endured damp conditions, at some point of its existence. Foxing is actually spots (of slime) caused by the exudates of Zerophilic fungi.3
Possible Source of Design Found
After being allowed to view and photograph the piece of Redwork at the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site, we were able to find the design in the 1890 Cunning's catalog. The print image actually may not have been the first time it was published. Producers of nineteenth century catalogs for embroidery designs often “borrowed” their competitor's published work to include in their own catalog. Companies encouraged consumers to send them copies of motifs which they then printed, with or without alteration.
Designs Intended for Pillow Shams
In the same catalog, we could see that a companion piece is featured. No doubt, the designer intended both motifs to be a pair of coordinating pillow shams. On the first one, a girl, enclosed within a circle is surrounded by Morning Glory flowers, is seen along with the words, “Good Morning.” On the other piece, a similarly constructed image shows a boy enclosed in a circle which is flanked by trailing vines and poppy-like flowers. That design includes the words, “Good Night.”
In comparing
the Coolidge splasher to the print pattern variations include: 1) a
slightly different shape for Morning Glory leaves; 2) longer twirling
tendrils on the left side of the design; 3) the face of the girl is
more broad; 4) the leaves underneath the right side, bottom of the
circle are configured in a slightly different manner; and 5) the
lines underneath the word
"Morning," are not just parallel lines,
but have had short vertical threads stitched onto the ends, creating
an elongated rectangle.
If
one compares the Cunning's catalog line drawing to the finished piece
in the Coolidge homestead, some minor variations are visible. The
two designs above were probably intended to be embroidered on pillow
shams.
Designs Re-Created
For your viewing pleasure and for my own amusement, I have re-created both antique designs using #16 red perle coton thread, on a linen/cotton fabric background, (a 55%/45% fabric blend). The two items above are embroidered pillow shams.
Redwork Motifs Come Alive with Added Words
Images of children, flowers, and animals often speak for themselves. In other instances, words have been added to motifs to clarify pictorial Redwork scenes. Sometimes a few words are all that is needed to help the viewer understand the intent of what is being portrayed.
Added words often designate the reason that an item was created. In this century, Alex Anderson designed a Redwork pillow that was published in American Patchwork & Quilting4 magazine. The words, “I Love You,” are embroidered in ecru thread on a white background, surrounded by a border of cherries stitched in Redwork embroidery.
Material objects of the past continue to inspire us today. New designs that feature words are just a reminder of a similar use of words in former times. The connections between needleworkers, whether embroiderers or quilters, span centuries of time. Recently, the poetry of Emily Dickinson inspired the making of a beautiful appliqué quilt.
Messages Added to Everyday Objects
A vintage linen apron includes a pocket with a message, “The Heck with Housework,” embroidered in Redwork. Those who "keep house" have battled the challenge of dust control for centuries now.
A pattern for a decorative pouch in which to keep a dust rag handy, should anyone appear at the door, was published in Godey's Lady's Book. This design can be seen later in this book.
After a friend had survived a life threatening surgery, she no longer considered dust management to be a high priority in her life. In walking past a table one day, she took her finger and wrote in the dust, “I Love Me.” The more compulsive cleaners among us would be shocked at this behavior, but her point is not lost, and it elicits a smile.
1 M.J. Cunning's Perforated Stamping Patterns (Cincinnati, OH, 1890).
2 For many early New Englanders, a full body bath was something that was reserved for Saturday nights only. Then, the whole family would take turns in the same “tub” of water that would be set in front of the hearth, for warmth. Quilts would sometimes be draped over quilt cranes on either side of the fireplace, in order to shield the bathers from drafts.
3 Straight Talk About Quilt Care by Patricia Lynne Grace Cummings, (NH: Quilter's Muse Publications, 2005), 69.
4 American Patchwork & Quilting (Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Corporation, February 2006), 24-26.
Go to Chapter 2a
©Copyright 2006/2007. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. All Rights Reserved. Please enjoy the designs contained in this pages, and make lots of fun projects, but we ask only one thing, PLEASE DO NOT REPRODUCE THE DESIGNS FOR SALE. Thank you.
If you have any questions, please contact us at: pat@quiltersmuse.com