An Early 18th (possibly 17th c) c Swaddling Cover

It is no secret I adore baby things...but this set, so simple, so humble...it takes my breath away.  In ancient times, babies were swaddled~ tightly wrapped in linen bands in layers, all of them pin'd together~ to keep baby quiet and content. For presentations, and special occasions, such as a Christening, a fancy cover was made to adorn the otherwise usually plain linen band the baby was wrapped in. I say, usually, because most were a simple unadorned band of linen~ there are several extant examples tho of the linen embellished with cutwork and needle lace such as reticella, common in the late 17th and early 18th c.  To find a body cover is exceedingly rare, but it, together with both matching mitts and cushion cover is near miraculous!

 All four pieces are made from the same very fine linen with applied designs using the same linen stitched into little bands and then pleated into place. The square piece, roughly 19cm square, I believe to be a cushion or pillow cover. It is obvious the set was meant for a Christening occasion from the nature of the embellished designs upon it~ there are two smaller crosses incorporated into an overall larger design

which in itself, forms yet another cross

 The body cover is cut from a single rectangle with a small cutout for the baby's neck to fit. A double frill of linen was then stitched round three sides, and at center front was originally hemmed to remain an open flounce, but then whoever used it, decided to tack the frill closed in two places. From shoulder to bottom it measures 41cm long, and 21cm wide

It has a quaint folky feel to the decoration~ one can tell the maker put much love into each and every stitch. A heart fills the bottom most motif

Trinity and two crosses form the center

Above, what looks like a butterfly or perhaps an angel~ with another heart at the center top

Behind the outer frill, there is enough exposed surface of the piece for it to pin to the swaddling bands, and there are feint prick holes here from doing so

The presence of the mitts, along with the size of the body cover, tell us the child was not a newborn. It was half swaddled leaving the hands free, which, could not have been presented in society without them properly being covered. The flared cuffs are framed in the same linen as the other pieces

 

The separate thumbs were carefully inserted, with no fold back on the finger opening over the hands

Livy's hands are sculpted closed so she could not model the mitts for you, but she was very happy to show you how the set would have looked on a baby

Looking from this angle, don't the bottom and top most motifs look like angels to you? They do to me!