Barbara Brackman's MATERIAL CULTURE

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Morris Muse: Catherine Raven Holiday

Collection of the William Morris Gallery Waltham

Catherine (Kate) Raven Holiday (1839-1925)

by her brother Milville Raven 1861

In 1864 Kate married painter and stained-glass artist

Henry Holiday. They celebrated their 60th anniversary in 1924.

Embroidery attributed to Catherine Raven Holiday

Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Morris praised Kate's embroidery techniques and color skills. "I’d back your wife for heavy sums against all Europe at embroidery."

Silk cushion cover by Kate Holiday

Kate began embroidering Morris-designed textiles for Morris & Company in the mid-1870s. William Morris permitted her to commission the colors for silk thread from Thomas Wardle's mill and he allowed her to decide on stitches and techniques to fill the shapes, a show of trust in her talent.

To remember Kate Holiday, Morris's favorite artisan: A pieced star from BlockBase+ where the block is pictured without a name. "Holiday Fest" sounds good.

Playing with the shading

Pattern above for a 12" Block

Print 8-1/2" x 11"

APPLIQUE OR EMBROIDERY

Collection of the William Morris Gallery Waltham

Table Cover designed by William Morris

Executed by Kate Holiday

92" long

Pattern inspired by Kate's embroidered piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This 1890 exhibition catalog uses the word "darned" to describe Catherine's embroidery.

National Gallery of Melbourne

Design attributed to Kate's husband Henry Holiday

Stitching to Kate

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Transposed Quilts: More Ideas on the Term

New York Project, Relyea family, Ulster County

A Transposed Quilt????

A few weeks ago I posted about my search for "Transposed Quilts" mentioned in agricultural fair records after 1850 or so. What did that term mean?

https://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2026/04/transposed-quilts.html

Since then Louise Tiemann and I have been looking for the words "Transposed Quilt" in 19th-century publications, finding some repetitive how-to copy telling us that Transposed Quilts are a rather medieval style of applique similar to what we call "intarsia" today.

Louise found this reference in an American needlework book.

The old European textile technique works best with sturdy wool fabrics.

U.S. museums have a few imported early examples but intarsia applique

(or is it piecing?) is rarely seen here.

And it certainly has little to do with the kind of needlework winning prizes at New York agricultural fairs in the 1850s, those we see described as "transposed quilts."

With no definitions apparent Louise and I examined the context in which we found the words "transposed quilt."

It may be important that we see the earliest references in upstate New York.

Typical mid-19th c. quilt in fashionable style.

Oak Leaf and Reel attributed to

Mary Hasbrouck Wilklow of Ellenville, Ulster County

New York project & the Quilt Index

Buffalo's 1857 newspaper tells us that Mrs. P. Staats won a first at the fair, topping Mrs. J. W. Brown who received a second and a third award for "Best transposed quilt." Mrs. Brown would be hard to find but Mrs. P Staats with her rather unusual Dutch name was easy to track.

Permelia Staats living at 117 Franklin in Buffalo's city center.,

Widow of Barent J. Staats.

Permelia's generation boasted several Barent Staats, one Mayor of Albany in the early 1840s. Her husband's Staats family had been in New York and earlier New Netherland for centuries with American family founders Abraham and Trijntje Staats arriving in what would become Albany in 1642.

Map of New Netherland before it became New York in the 1660s

Hudson River in red near Fort Orange--

later Albany---center of Dutch colonization.

The other clue in the context we noticed was the lack of the word "applique" in the list of style categories. It may very well be that "transposed" means appliqued. Louise found more information on Mrs. J. W. Brown's quilts identifying one as a "chintz applique' when it was entered but her prize was awarded in the "transposed quilt" category. We both think the odd term meant "applique quilt" among that group of upstate needlewomen who were familiar with three types of quilted bedcovers, described below in the list of New York fair winners with representative examples of each .

3 QUILT STYLES

It's also important to our conclusions that we find the term first in the New York area that was so persistently Dutch.

New York Historical Society

Petrus Stuyvesant

Most Americans know of a single Dutch colonist, one-legged Peter Stuyvesant

who surrendered New Netherland to the British in the 1660s.

Inheritors of Dutch culture have been ignored in American history with English descendants dominating politically and culturally for the past 400 years.

Yet, Dutch culture, folkways and language have long survived in New York from Flatbush north to Niagara.

Red and green applique quilts shown here seem typical of those made by New Yorkers of Dutch ancestry about 200 years after New Netherland became New York.

My guess is that the term "transposed quilt" is regional English with roots in Dutch language and needlework classification systems that began in the home of the Dutch New Yorkers. The unusual name was used in a few other places as the century continued.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania word use: 3 categories for prize winners:

Silk, calico and transposed.

Silk quilt [e.g. crazy etc.], Cotton pieced? and appliqued?

The whole search is Louise's and my idea of a good time. We do love those old newspapers.

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Morris Muse: Nellie Whichelo

Mary Eleanor "Nellie" Whichelo (1862-1959)

Head Designer at the Royal School of Needlework

Nellie Whichelo came from a family of professional artists including her father, grandfather and his brother. When 17 she and sister Georgiana (1856-1917) were hired by the Royal School of Art Needlework founded in 1872, a project of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Helena (1846-1923).

Queen Victoria's daughters Louise on the left and

Helena with what looks to be a needlework pattern

The school moved to ever impressive quarters over the decades.

1879

Late Victorian taste defined by the Royal School in their headquarters

the year the Whichelos joined the staff

The name was shortened in the 20th century.

The Royal School had two goals: Reviving "an almost lost art" (or at least producing designs to suit Arts & Crafts taste) and providing work for gentlewomen in reduced circumstances.

Queen Elizabeth II coronation embroidery

Designers and needlewomen there also served as official seamstresses for the Royal Family, still stitching for coronations, funerals and weddings.

The RSN was an important part of British public relations, entering work in international competitions such as America's 1876 Centennial Exposition.

Workroom 1912

Nellie quickly worked her way up in The Paint Room (the design department) becoming head designer there where she presided until 1939.

Many artists worked with the school to create a signature style, among them William Morris

and his good friend Walter Crane.

Portraits by Walter Crane (1845-1915) Photoshopped into a frame created from

Crane's curtain border designed for the Royal School

These two Whichelo sister never married, living together

in the Putney area of London until Georgie died in 1917.

1911 Census

Edward VIII

Imagery contains symbols of

England and its territories

Nellie designed and supervised the embroidery on this coronation robe to be worn by King Edward VIII in 1937 but Mrs. Simpson disrupted those plans. Miss Whichelo was probably not a fan of "That Woman."