Preview of Quilts 1700-2010 at the V&A
Quilts 1700-2010 opens at the V&A on the 20th March 2010 and runs through until the 4th July 2010. Apparently this is the most successful exhibition that the V&A have run in terms of pre-sales of tickets - over 9,000 at the last count.
We were delighted to be invited to the Preview yesterday and even more so after we had viewed the exhibition - the scope and depth are excellent and even if you don't think that the highlights of the exhibition should be the Tracey Emin bed or the Grayson Perry foetuses you are sure to find elements that find you in awe of their makers or at the very fact that you are viewing these quilts at all. The oldest quilts are in breath-takingly good condition. I own a Crazy Quilt from 1893 and some of the satins (especially the reds) have practically disappeared. The 1730-1750 patchwork bed hangings which greet you as you enter the exhibition are the only set of chintz bed hangings from this period that survive in a public collection. They are in superb condition - the colours bright, the work extraordinary with a clam shell design that comprises 6500 individual patches. So this is where the exhibition opens - in the 18th century ..." when increased access to fashionable materials such as silks, satins and velvets resulted in an explosion of sumptuous patchwork quilts created for some of the wealthiest homes in Britian."
We were delighted to be invited to the Preview yesterday and even more so after we had viewed the exhibition - the scope and depth are excellent and even if you don't think that the highlights of the exhibition should be the Tracey Emin bed or the Grayson Perry foetuses you are sure to find elements that find you in awe of their makers or at the very fact that you are viewing these quilts at all. The oldest quilts are in breath-takingly good condition. I own a Crazy Quilt from 1893 and some of the satins (especially the reds) have practically disappeared. The 1730-1750 patchwork bed hangings which greet you as you enter the exhibition are the only set of chintz bed hangings from this period that survive in a public collection. They are in superb condition - the colours bright, the work extraordinary with a clam shell design that comprises 6500 individual patches. So this is where the exhibition opens - in the 18th century ..." when increased access to fashionable materials such as silks, satins and velvets resulted in an explosion of sumptuous patchwork quilts created for some of the wealthiest homes in Britian."
Thought-provoking themes guide you through the quilts and explanations of each quilt (expounded in great depth in the book for the exhibition by the Curator Sue Pritchard) unravel the stories behind each of the quilts, sometimes complex narratives where all is not as it may seem (typed in error seam there....) from initial inspection.
These are a selection of my photos from the exhibition which I hope you enjoy. When time allows I will give more information on some.
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