Oscar Wilde Crazy Quilt Sold for $150 in 1883!

Oscar Wilde Crazy Quilt Sold for $150 in 1883

As I stated before, the Oscar on my CQ is printed on fabric and finely appliqued with tiny buttonhole stitches and outlined stitched for accents and shading.  It leads me to believe there was a printed fabric with him on it - maybe a handkerchief?  I started search for evidence of this and found a mention of an "Oscar calico“ plus the term “Oscar Wildes” in a listing of fabrics available for purchase.  There were even mentions of “Oscar Ribbons” in a couple of newspapers.  Maybe there was a printed calico too?  My Oscar was printed on fabric some place during this time period, as he is on my quilt.

Oscar Calico:  The Columbian. (Bloomsburg, Pa.), 17 March 1882. 
Ribbons: The Northern Pacific farmer. (Wadena, Minn.), 22 June 1882 and The Worthington Advance. (Worthington, Minn.), 22 June 1882. 
Oscar Wildes: The Florida Agriculturist. (DeLand, Fla.), 21 March 1883.

In the book “Treasures of use and beauty : an epitome of the choicest gems of wisdom, history, reference and recreation” by a corps of special authors.   Published by F.B. Dickerson & Co., 1883, pages 460-61 they tell of a "small spread having Oscar Wilde (as the center piece) in aesthetic costume, with a lily in one had and the orthodox sunflower in the other, sold at a recent fair for $150."

This was published in 1883 - just around the time frame I estimate my CQ was made.  So there may be more quilts with Oscars out there!  Also in 1883, Godey’s Volume 106 ran a two-part article on Mosaic Patchwork that  describes how to make the “Oscar” (Oscar Wilde) patchwork. 

My research on my Oscar CQ lead me  to my book library – the infamous “Crazy Quilts” by Penny McMorris (1984)  book and the more recent “Crazy Quilts” by Cindy Brick (which I purchased directly from her  - a signed first edition copy).  Both have sections mentioning “Oscar.”  Whereas Penny’s book directly references his influence on crazy quilts (page 63); Cindy’s book , mentions Oscar in relation to the aesthetic movement along with an illustration of Oscar from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, January 21, 1882, page 381.  The same image – in outline format – was used in clothing store ads to advertise clothing - boys breeches - if you wanted to dress like Oscar for an upcoming lecture.  The above ad came from the February 7, 1882 edition for the Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY.  The Feb 8 edition used the same image along with a description of Oscar's arrival, the stage, etc. 

Excerpt from the Feb 7 ad: “Ladies, We know you are just dying to see HIM, and as he will be here tomorrow, just cut this out and see what a true likeness this is of him.  Of course you know who the dear creature is.  Allow us to present him Ladies, this is OSCAR WILDE!” 

When reviewing the CQ books, I went so far as to pulling out a magnifying glass to see if any of the quilts pictures had an Oscar – but sadly no.  I did however notice that both books used the same antique quilt – page 88 in Penny’s book and page 48 in Cindy’s version – however the image is flipped in Cindy’s book. 

Aside:  There is also a nice description of Crazy Quilts in the October 1882 of The Art Amateur, in the Art Needlework section, but no mention of Oscar in the description.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25627752?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents