Precision Patchwork: Nineteenth-Century Military Quilts

Abstract

In 2007 the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired a nineteenth-century military quilt which will be displayed in a major exhibition in spring 2010. This exhibition aims to examine the historic, social and cultural context of British quilt production and seeks to challenge popular misconceptions, including the assumption that quilt making was 'women's work'. This article will draw on published sources and research carried out in a quilt documentation project to consider the role of men in quilt production in the nineteenth century. Using primary sources, it will examine the provision of skills workshops and the learning of trades in the army. In considering both primary and secondary sources, this paper outlines the difficulties in undertaking object-based research that is dependent on oral testimony.