Other - Strawberry

Floral Motifs on Early Chintz

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Flower Color as Seen on Chintz

Motifs Other Than Flowers

Scientific Name

Common Name

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Fragaria sp. - Strawberry

Photo of the strawberry fruit courtesy of James McNally [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]

Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) from Private Collection, English Center Medallion Quilt with Fruit Basket Medallion, c.1825. This illustration is almost certainly of a wild or cultivated form of F. vesca based on the shape and relatively small size of the fruit.

Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) by Denisse, E., Flore d’Amérique, t. 159, 1843-1846.

Common Names: Strawberry, Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), Garden Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa)

Description: Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) is a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae). The Hortus Kewensis, ed. 2, vol. 3 recorded that Fragaria vesca is native to Britain. Most modern garden strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) result from a hybrid of Fragaria virginiana and F. chiloensis that has been subjected to intense selection by plant breeders from around the mid-eighteenth century.*

Quilts with this Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

Private Collection, English Center Medallion Quilt with Fruit Basket Medallion, c.1825
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Petersburg Appliqued Quilt, made by the Boyle sisters, Object Number 1991-645, Four Centuries of Quilts: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection, p. 103, c. 1840
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Museum Purchase, Object Number 2009.609.1, 1815-1830
Private Collection of Mrs. Adams-Coffyn, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 196, no date
Private Collection of Mrs.Lassovitch, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 189, no date
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Glenn, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 184, no date.
Private Collection of Miss Eleanor R. Thompson, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 186, no date.
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Chintz Applique Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Object Number 2014.5, Eye on Elegance, p. 65, c. 1820
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Floral Roundels Medallion Quilt, probably made by a member of the Adams or Boyce family, Object Number 83.33, Historic Quilts of the DAR Museum, pp. 38-39, appliqued c.1815-1825, quilted c.1870
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Framed Medallion Quilt, made by a member of the Gillam family, Object Number 87.10, Historic Quilts of the DAR Museum, p. 41, c. 1825-1835
Royal Ontario Museum, English Quilt Made in Yorkshire, 300 Years of Canada's Quilts, p. 27, c. 1815
International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Ardis and Robert James Collection, Medallion Quilt with Fruit Basket Center Medallion, Object Number 2006.003.0002, Chintz Applique: from Imitation to Icon, Plate 10, 1830-1850

Chintz with this Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Printed Textile Square, Object Number 1974-550, c. 1815
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Printed Textile Intended for Quilt Square, Object Number 1974-551,1, c. 1815
Panel 5 in Appendix I of Merikay Waldvogel, "Printed Panels for Chintz Quilts: Their Origin and Use," Uncoverings 34 (2013): 124
Also, check out the May 7 & 21, 2019 Chintz Panels in Quilts blogs (https://chintzpanelquilt.blogspot.com/2019/05/) by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman for several pictures, citations, and more information about the printed panel on which this motif occurs.

Additional Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) Motifs

This illustration is almost certainly of the hybrid garden strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) based on the large plump berries. It is from the Private Collection, Broderie Perse Bed Set, c. 1840.

Quilts with the above Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

None known at this time

Chintz with this Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

Private Collection, Broderie Perse Bed Set, c. 1840

Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Audubon Birds-Style Furnishing Fabric, (brown, green, and white colorway), 1831

Quilts with the above Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

None known at this time

Chintz with this Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

Victoria and Albert Museum, Audubon Birds-Style Furnishing Fabric, (brown, green, and white colorway), Object Number Circ. 292-1956, 1831
Victoria and Albert Museum, Audubon Birds-Style Furnishing Fabric, (brown, yellow, and white colorway), Object Number Circ. 290-1956, 1831
Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Printed Textile, by John Potts (Audubon bird-type print, manganese bronze, blue, and white colorway), Object Number 1959.0084.056, Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850, p. 138, 1826-1836

More Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) Motifs

(No pictures available at this time)

Quilts with a Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif on a stripe to match the printed panel (Waldvogel Panel 5), a detail of which is shown at the top of the page:

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Museum Purchase, Object Number 2009.609.1, 1815-1830
Private Collection of Mrs.Lassovitch, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 189, no date
Private Collection of Mrs. Adams-Coffyn, Appliqued Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Dunton's Old Quilts, p 196, no date
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Chintz Applique Counterpane Made by Achsah Goodwin Wilkins and Unidentified Others, Object Number 2014.5, Eye on Elegance, p. 65, c. 1820

Chintz with a Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif on a stripe to match the printed panel (Waldvogel Panel 5), a detail of which is shown at the top of the page:

The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Block Printed Furniture Chintz, Object Number 1969.3172, 1969.3906.001, 1969.3906.002, 1969.3906.003, 1969.3906.004, 1969.3906.005, 1969.3906.006, 1969.3906.007, 1969.3906.008, 1969.3906.009, 1969.3906.010, 1969.3906.011, 1969.3906.012, 1969.3906.013, 1969.3906.014, 1969.3906.015, 1969.3906.016, Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850, p. 228, 1795-1800

Quil with a different Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

Smithsonian Institution, Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Patricia S. Smith Collection, Pieced Quilt (Strips with Four Patch on Point, Maker's Initials R.H.V., Object Number 1998.149.13, Calico and Chintz: Antique Quilts from the Collection of Patricia S. Smith, pp. 80-81, c. 1825

Chintz each with a different Fragaria sp. (Strawberry) motif:

The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Blue and White Roller Printed Textile with Pillars and Fruit, Object Numbers 1969.1040, 1969.3782.001, 1969.3782.002, 1969.3782.003, 1969.3782.004, 1969.3782.005, Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850, p. 31, c. 1815
The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Fruit Basket Furniture Fabric Fragments, Object Number 1969.3128.002, c.1830
Shelburne Museum, Floral Chintz Album Bedcover, made by members of the Townsend, Fuller, Pope, and Mikell families, Object Number 10-151 (1954-412), Art of the Needle: 100 Masterpiece Quilts from the Shelburne Museum, p. 19, 1850-1857

* Martin Welsh, "Strawberries," National Vegetable Society, https://web.archive.org/web/20080802231801/http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show_vegetables_1/strawberry.php, accessed 5/9/2019.