The Guild’s Collection has a range of 19th Century household items of which this bedspread is an example.
This bedspread dates from a time when there was no central heating, when people would have woken up in winter to frost patterns on the inside of the windows.
Many Victorian bedspreads were made up of small(ish) squares sewn together. This one is made in pieces but is not of small squares. It measures approximately nine feet by seven feet.
This 19th century bedspread is knitted in white cotton. In many ways wool would have been warmer, but cotton is easier to wash (it doesn’t felt) and could be boiled if it was very soiled.
The bedspread starts with a centre square followed by rectangles worked round it and sewn on. It has a circular hole which has been patched so neatly on the front – even the patch has textured stitches.
One of the edge panels is not shaped and the final triangle has simply been folded over and left under the fringe.
The name and date of the maker are knitted in purl stitches on a stocking stitch ground: Hannah Smith 1837
