I think it was quite wise as well as resourceful of women not to let cigar silks/ribbons go to waste, especially brilliant gold ones like these! (Meanwhile, their fathers or husbands were cutting and carving up the cigar boxes to make tramp art frames and the like.) While I've seen a handful of these quilts, this is the first I've seen made almost entirely using one brand of silks; typically it seems it was the practice to trade in order to have a variety, with which to create more complex geometrical patterns. All of which makes me think about the circumstances and disposition of the particular woman who made this one--whether she lacked a community of women to trade with, or was particularly attached to owls, or wanted to keep the design simple in order to be able to add some embroidered flowers and her monogram to the plain gold ground? Whatever the case, I think it is a very sweet and lovely thing, which one could frame, or hang just as is on the wall.
C. 1900, 19"x19" inches. The ribbons used for the outer ruffles are LaNativida and Beina Victoria-"Extra Fina". Very good condition, sill nice and bright, with a one small stain in the upper right area, minor, and one small area of staining on the back, upper left. The backing is linen, with one nice little repair/patch at upper right near the border. I have not pressed it, but one certainly could.
