Tumbling Blocks Coverlet, 1880-1910 (silk)

Mosaic patchwork coverlet made from plain and woven silks in the tumbling block patchwork design, with an outer border of green velvet with mitred corners and edged with cord braid that has three loops in each corner. The coverlet is backed with red/brown cotton. It was made by Lucy Anson who was born mid 1860s and was educated at Stafford Place Seminary, where she stayed for an extra year to complete a tapestry measuring 42 x 54 inches of a hawking party preparing to set out from Haddon Hall. She later married and had several children, but her husband became consumptive and unable to work. To support the family Lucy Harrison (nee Anson) founded a company manufacturing parasols and umbrellas in the Wicker area of Sheffield. The company was successful enough for her to employ other members of her family. Lucy made this coverlet from leftover scraps sometime before her death in 1914.