Floral Motifs on Early Chintz
Viola tricolor var. hortensis - Pansy
Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) from the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Fish Family Chintz Album Quilt, dated 1843
Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) by Prenn [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) from Annales de la Société royale d’Agriculture et de Botanique de Gand [ed. C. Morren], vol. 1, Plate 12, fig. 1-3, 1845
Common Names: Pansy, Show Pansy, Fancy Pansy
 
Description:  Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) also known as (Viola × wittrockiana) is a complex hybrid form of Viola tricolor (Viola), a common wildflower across Eurasia. Breeding of violas to produce pansies began in England between 1812 and 1814 to produce larger flowers, more intense colors, and a rounder face.  By the 1830s the result of this plant breeding was beginning to be recognizable as the flower we call pansy today.*  Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) is a member of the Violet Family (Violaceae). 

Quilts with this Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) motif: 
 
  • Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Fish Family Chintz Album Quilt, Object Number 5254, Historic Quilts of the DAR Museum, pp.88-89, dated 1843
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art, Hannah Nicholson Grave Quilt, Object Number 1991-36-1,  c. 1843-1846
  • Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, Quaker Album Quilt for Hannah Nicholson, Object Number 1986.0657.01, The Smithsonian Treasury American Quilts, p. 45, dated 1843 
  • Byron and Sara Rhodes Dillow Collection, International Quilt Study Center, Album Quilt Made by Members of the Evangelical Sewing Society of the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA, IQSC2008.040.0004, Chintz Applique: From Imitation to Icon, p. 39, dated 1846 

Chintz with this Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) motif: 
 
  • None known at this time


                                             More Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) Motifs  

























Quilts with this Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) motif:

  • Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Markey Garnhart Quilt, Object Number L.91.355, c. 1830-1840
  • Byron and Sara Rhodes Dillow Collection, International Quilt Study Center, Album Quilt Made by Members of the Evangelical Sewing Society of the First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, PA, IQSC2008.040.0004, Chintz Applique: From Imitation to Icon, p. 39, dated 1846 


                                       Additional Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) Motifs

                                                                 ( No pictures available at this time)



Quilts with the same motif but different from the Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) motifs above: 

  • Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ladies of the Third Presbyterian Church Philadelphia Quilt, Object Number 2006-162-1, 1864
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art, First Baptist Church Sewing Society Quilt, Object Number 1982-134-1, dated 1846-1850




*William Cuthbertson, Pansies, Violas, and Violets (London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1910), xi and 4-6.

©  Updated 8/2/2020     Author: Terry Terrell
Viola tricolor var. hortensis (Pansy) from Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Markey Garnhart Quilt, c. 1830-1840