Wholecloth Quilts, Trapunto & Boutis
History and Techniques
Section II: France, the Netherlands, & Germany
by Patricia L. Cummings
With assistance from members of the British Quilt History List.
French Quilts
Provençal Quilts = Marseilles Quilts
France is another country with a highly developed style of wholecloth quilting in the Provençal area. Where is that? According to an online travel site, Provence itself is not a city. Its official status is that of an administrative region known as the "Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur." This consists of a large geographic expanse which encompasses six areas, one of which borders Monaco. For more information about the history and geography of Provence, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provence
Origins of Marseilles Quilts
The seaport city of Marseilles, France has been a busy trade center since it was fouinded in 600 B.C. Marseilles Quilts were first produced in the 1600s, and the quilting on them was considered to be "hand embroidery."
At the time, trade between France and the colonies was severely restricted, with England having the monopoly on the transfer of goods. For this reason, quilts from France would have passed, first to England, and then to other ports.
The creation of "Marseilles" quilts, quilted petticoats, and cotillions (a quilted outer garment) was a widespread art in the seventeenth century. These items were copied first in England, and later, in India.
Traditionally, the quilts from the Provençal region have been marketed through the bustling, seaport city of Marseilles. Thus, any quilt from the area that is a wholecloth quilt may be called a Marseilles quilt. That includes wholecloth quilts in solid colors, even white.
The term "Marseilles quilt" encompasses other quilts, such as those that are composed of toile prints. Toile is a type of printed fabric that was made famous by its production at the Oberkampf factory in Jouy-en-Josas, France, beginning in 1770.
Toile is the main subject of a number of books, including: Toile Du Jouy: Printed Textiles in the Classic French Style; Toiles de Jouy; Toile: The Storied Fabrics of Europe and America; and Timeless Toile.
Toiles for All Seasons: French & English Printed Textiles is an additional book, that has come to my attention since first writing this article. The book, which has many color illustrations, and is a size that is easy to handle, was prepared in association with the Allentown Art Museum.
Indiennes Used to Make Marseilles Quilts
A "Marseilles Quilt" can also be one that is comprised of fabrics known as "indiennes."
Recently, Margo Kramer, owner of Reproduction Fabrics, provided a nice description of indiennes in her online newsletter. Here is a link to her website: www.reproductionfabrics.com
Indiennes is a term that originated in the seventeenth century that denoted painted or printed cloth that was imported from India. Fabrics from India first reached England in 1613, according to notes I took while listening to Dorothy Osler's taped lecture for a University of Nebraska-Lincoln class entitled, "History of Quilts," in 2001. These textiles were "coveted."
As early as 1648, an attempt was made in England to imitate Indian cloth. The term, indiennes, came to encompass not only the cloth itself, but the items of clothing or quilts made from that specific fabric. Wholecloth quilts which contain either toile fabric or indiennes can be seen in the book, Quilts of Provence: The Art and Craft of French Quiltmaking by Kathryn Berenson (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996), ISBN 0-500-01741-7.
Marseilles Piqué quilts feature two layers of cloth plus a layer of batting in the middle of the quilt "sandwich," plus additional stuffing. The Magic Patch issued a special edition in 2002. That volume of the magazine is described as having full size, pull out patterns with fifteen quilts in full color. Carole Kokonis adds, "Marseillais quilting is not corded or stuffed like Boutis, but extra pattern lines could be added to make them into Boutis type quilts."
What Exactly Is Boutis?
Provençal Boutis, sometimes called French Trapunto, consists of just two layers of cloth plus padded motifs. The name Boutis is derived from the original tool called a "boutis," that was used to insert a cord into a design, a tedious task. Boutis is a traditional form of quiltmaking in France that dates from the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the style, which is used to make a number of different items, is enjoying a revival.
Many boutis items are made for babies. Small christening caps, and elaborate embroidered, corded, and/or stuffed boutis are traditionally placed on the laps of godparents when the baby is being held on christening day.
Carole Kokinis who resides in Sheffield, Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, worked the bird design shown here.
The pattern was purchased at Quilt Expo in Strasbourg, from Il Etait une Fois, a shop in France with an online presence. http://secure.oxatis.com/PBHomePage.asp?PBMInit=1
The site also offers patterns for some very interesting lampshade and other items which have trapunto designs.
A second example, shared by Carole, was a gift from her friend, Elsa Biggs, to Carole's baby grandson. The item, a petassoun, (a lap quilt to hold a baby) measures 14 1/2" (37 centimeters) square and is made of fine white cotton on top and a type of "cheesecloth" on the back. Ordinary polyester fiberfill is used for stuffing, as well as acrylic wool yarn in the channels. The whole design is stitched by hand, and then the fibers (fibres) are parted on the back to insert the stuffing. Sometimes, the edges of these pieces are turned inward 1/4" on top and bottom, and are stitched around. Some of the more ornate examples of this work have scalloped edges.
This pattern is featured on the front cover of a book entitled, French Trapunto Designs and Techniques, English Translation, by Solange Kergreis (Kangaroo Press, 1997), ISBN 0-86417-884-0. This book has 48 pages which contain, "small, pretty projects, a brief history, antique examples, and excellent techniques pages," according to Carole.
She recommends to other books for boutis.
1) Le Manuel de Boutis de Madame Gaussen: La bibliothèque des metiers, ISBN 2912863-02-3 and 9782912863027. This is a book in the French language that shows techniques and patterns and features photos in black and white.
2) 102 Motifs de Boutis: tires des Collections Privee Provençal dessine et adaptes par Madame Gaussen. Carole Kokonis describes this book as having full size patterns on heavy tracing paper, plus a brief introduction to the history and the technique. The book is in French.
The photo above shows some of the tools that Carole uses when she makes boutis.
Please click on photo to see a larger view.
Boutis Provence is a website where you can view a slide show of additional boutis pieces: http://www.boutis-provence.com/diaporama.php
The Difference Between Trapunto and Boutis
First published in France, the book, boutis & trapunto, by Catherine Coget (IL: Quilter's Resource Publications, 2002), explains the differences between boutis and trapunto and offers a number of original patterns for household linens and small whimsical items, such as a charming linen turtle created with the trapunto method. Coget's book states that while trapunto designs often have an un-quilted, or un-corded background, boutis can be accompanied by "vermicelli work," (corded channels).
A book that is available in both French and English is the following one that is highly recommended by several members of the British Quilt History List: Boutis des villes, Boutis des Champs, by Francine Nicolle and Jean-Louis Aubert (Edisud, 2000), ISBN 2-7449-01-20-2. This hardback book has been described as being inspirational and having beautiful illustrations, detailed instructions, patterns, motifs, and layout."
Report from Heather Harteneck
Heather Harteneck is an American who visits France often. She signed up for a week long class during the summer, in the south of France at the Maison du Boutis in Calvisson, which was founded by Francine Nicolle. She states that boutis has motifs that are stuffed with cotton thread after outline stitching through two layers of fine fabric, usually batiste, so that when held up to the light, there is interplay of light and shadow. Boutis is most often worked completely in white. She adds that approximately 10% of the time, this technique is done in gold and Provençal blue.
With permission from Heather Harteneck of Florida, we include the following informative letter that she wrote about her experiences with learning boutis:
The small infant boutis are called "petassons" (petassoun in Provençal), and are very beautiful. Very rare are the wedding "jupons" with the hems stitches in boutis up to about 50 cm. I understand that it is thought these are more rare because they were later cut into petassons when babies were born!
During the class I took, one lady was working on a larger piece about 45 inches square. She said that she estimated about 2,000 hours work would go into it.
I found the technique to be harder than I thought. The outline stitching is not difficult, like basic hand quilting, but it is quite hard to stuff the motifs. This is done on the reverse with a double thickness of four-ply cotton yarn, trimmed closely, then the ends stuffed into the motif with a tool (in our case, toothpicks).
Harteneck reports that, in the class, a Piqué de Marseilles was shown. This piece utilized two layers of a beautiful cerise silk and featured a cotton back. Some of the border motifs were worked in Back Stitch which created more definition than a quilting stitch (running stitch).
She further states that a French cross stitch magazine, Ouvrages Broderie, NO. 65, July 2005, ran an article about the Maison du Boutis, where she studied. Apparently, this magazine is also available in Canada. Contact the publisher by mail at:
Editions PIERO
38 av. Franklin Roosevelt
77215 CEDEX
Additional French Language Book of Interest
An additional recommended book, written in French, is Piqué de Provence, Couvertures et Jupons Imprimes de la Collection D'Andre-Jean Cabanel XVIII-XIX SIECLES by Andre-Jean Cabanel (Aix-en-Provence, France: Edisud, 2000, ISBN: 2-7449-0158-X. This book highlights an exhibit of Provençal textiles at the Museé de l'Impression sur Etoffes de Mulhouse. Photos of toile, wood block prints, examples of boutis and Marseillais quilts accompany a series of essays on the history of these pieces. The book is written in French.
If you should find yourself in Paris, you may want to visit this shop which specializes in boutis quilts, book, and kits:
http://www.le-boutis.com/English/index_eng.htm
First Woven Marseilles Cloth: A Result of the Jacquard Loom
In 1763, the production of "Marseilles cloth," a simulated hand-quilted cloth, was first woven on a traditional draw loom. The machine-woven cloth required a team of two people, working together to operate this kind of loom that has been in use since early Christian times.
In the first decade of the nineteenth century, a new loom was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard. There are a number of examples of this revolutionary piece of industrial equipment, online. One photo can be seen at this site: http://tinyurl.com/9gzls The importance of this invention was that a second person was no longer needed to create woven fabric on a loom.
When Jim and I were preparing an article, "Willimantic and Sharon: Textile Tales of Old Connecticut," for The Quilter magazine (NJ: All-American Crafts, Inc., July 2004), 96-100, we saw an example of a Jacquard loom at the Windham Textile and History Museum, in Willimantic, Connecticut. A daunting piece of equipment, we included a photo of it in the article.
Remnant Features Simulated Hand Quilting Motifs
Speaking of mill-woven, simulated hand-quilted fabric, recently, in an antiques shop, we found an interesting remnant to purchase. Tan in color, the small piece features simulated quilting lines which form the shapes of vines, flowers, a vase, and birds. A close-up is shown here. Click on image for a larger view.
A Look at Variant Terminology for White Wholecloth Quilts
Antiques shop owners who rely on current print advertisements are likely to call all-white, machine-loomed "spreads" by alternate names they find in print catalog ads. "Matelassé," "marcella," or "marsyle" quilts, plus other names are mentioned by Berenson in her enchanting book, Quilts of Provence. In her article in Uncoverings, she links the variance of nomenclature to "free-form spelling in old inventories and advertisements."
In "Marseilles Quilts and Their Woven Offspring" by Sally Garoutte, a research paper published in Uncoverings 1982, 115-134, she states that after 1800, Americans referred to a loomed quilt as a "Marseilles quilt." By 1982, when she wrote the paper, she declared that terminology for these bedcovers has changed over time. "Today," a more correct term to describe a bedcovering of this type would be a "Marseilles spread," Garoutte stated.
In 1776, a London publication referred to the creation of these kinds of textiles as "quilting in the loom." By definition, Marseilles spreads either have no filler, or contain an unwoven cotton roving.
In the United States today, we associate Marseilles quilts with only those which are all-white. In part, this concept is due to consumer advertising and marketing, and also the recognition factor for these readily available items through catalog stores.
The book, Textiles, 7th Edition by Sara J. Kadolph and Anna L. Langford
( New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1993), describes the term matelassé as a double-cloth woven to create a three-dimensional texture with a puckered, almost quilted look. Since the fabric is created with crepe yearn or cotton yarn, shrinkage occurs in the finishing process. This is responsible for creating the puckered appearance.
In my collection, there is an 82" long x 81" wide, all-white, woven, Marseilles spread that was called a matelassé by an antiques seller. This bedcover is from the estate of Jim Hamlin, North Bridgton, Maine, who was a silversmith, born in 1894. We have taken some close-up photos of this bedcovering which must have been quite beautiful when it was new, but it is now somewhat tattered.
Here is a close-up of the Jim Hamlin, Bridgton, Maine, Marseilles spread.
Berenson offers a specific meaning for the term, "Pièces Matelassées." That is: quilted needlework with batting, but no stuffing or cording. (Berenson article in Uncoverings, 20).
Interestingly enough, Garoutte notes that, in his landmark book, Old Quilts, a limited edition, self-published book written by William Rush Dunton, Jr., M.D., in 1946, the author speaks of "eight appliquéd coverlets from the period of 1820-30 in which the foundation fabric was Marseilles quilt.
Quilts from the Netherlands
A book, Quilts: the Dutch Tradition by An Moonen (Nederlands Openluchtmuseum Arnhem) shows a number of wholecloth print fabric quilts, a number of them for children. An intricately worked wholecloth, gold color, silk quilt, circa 1860, that was stem-stitched with light brown embroidery silk thread isi pictured on page 113.
An interesting feature of this book is that a small photo of the back of each quilt is pictured on the same page as the description. On the right hand page, opposite, there is a full page, color view of the quilt's top. This book is well worth a look, and proves without a doubt that the Dutch have been making quilts, too! ISBN 90-70300-36-0.
21st Century German Designer Makes Award Winning Wholecloth Quilts
Andrea Stracke who lives in Rohlfshagen, Germany is a prolific wholecloth quilter. If you need any incentive at all to attempt making your own wholecloth quilt, just visit her website: www.quiltkunst.de
There you will see an array of quilts in a rainbow color assortment with varying designs." Andrea quilts all of her quilts, by hand, and closes the edges by hand, as well. She share photos of two of her quilts here.
Andrea Stracke's wholecloth Indigo quilt
Andrea Stracke's white wholecloth quilt
This concludes Section II of "Wholecloth Quilts, Trapunto and Boutis: History and Techniques." Click below to coninue reading.
Section III: American Wholecloth Quilting Traditions
Section IV: Trapunto and Its Techniques
©Copyright 2005, James and Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, New Hampshire. All photos, quilt designs, graphic images, and individual text submissions are owned by the individuals who created them and are also copyright protected.
For more information, please contact: pat@quiltersmuse.com