For Mother's Day~

 18th c Christening Basket &  Quilted Silk Satin Cover 1127.2020.19

 How fitting for the last blogpost about this wonderful Christening Basket, than to have it on Mother's Day? This would certainly be a perfect Mother's Day gift!! Honestly speaking tho, I acquired this set for the basket you see above, the first picture I saw of it looked just about like this. I didn't give a thought or care to what else was in it. In past years, I have seen 3 different basket covers...billed as 'cushion covers',  sometimes without the skirting that hangs over the basket's edge....never have I found one still stitched to its original basket. It measures 17.5"x14.25" and is 5" tall.

 The cover is made from the same cream silk satin as the gown and cushion and bearing cloth, with same louped gimp fringe & fly braid trims.

This picture is a good view of how firmly the quilted silk top piece has been pulled down and stitched to the corners of the basket that is underneath. It is firmly attached and not loose in any spot at all.

 The quilting design is a pretty basket of flowers, with a scrolling border of the same. No dates or initials, but who cares, this thing is fantabulous. The other 3 covers I have studied have all been quilted to a plain linen backing , and I have no reason to doubt this one is any different. 

  Pretty little stitches, the silk satin has held up remarkably well over time with no holes or worn spots...tho I believe this entire set was placed into a trunk in the attic of the estate and just plain ol forgotten. The light has not reached its surface to degrade it....no folks to see it and cut it off the basket to make it into a pillow cover.

  I was very careful to pull each item from the basket one at a time, and found loose pins hanging onto several items, so no surprise to find some that had sifted to the bottom of the basket. Perfect proof for the method of construction~ a nice tight fitting quilted cover that would keep all these little pins from escaping!

 I was extremely excited to see the basket underneath (many know I have somewhat of a 'thing' for early baskets)...but upon lifting the skirts, found it to be completely covered in silk.  It's a very tight covering, the silk fitting it like a lampshade~ stretched very tight.  The side strip's edge was folded over about an inch or a little more, before being whipped over the very bottom of the basket. This is what you see flipped up at the base~ the bottom friction wear has worn thru this edge, allowing a  little peek at the sides of the basket. 

  Flipping it over to admire the bottom of the basket~ it is so clean and fresh, like the day it was made. The basket itself is most likely made from willow.

 Sneaking a peek at a side thru a worn area, the side construction very simple, the same as the bottom.  No fancy or even robust weaving is needed, as the basket was made for and always meant to be covered.  If you enlarge the picture, you will notice as well, there is a layer of paper between the basket and the quilted cover. It feels as tho there may also be a slightly wadded fill, which would give more reason for the paper lining to be there~ to keep any wadding contained where its supposed to be. 

  This is a view of a corner on the bottom of the basket~ the corner skirtings have been attached to the basket with these long threads that pass not just around the slats, but pierced thru them as well.

A last little interesting that may help me to date and place where this silk was made~ there are  red silk threads woven thru the selvedge edge, as well as silver plate.

I hope you have enjoyed exploring the basket with me, I have certainly enjoyed sharing it with you~