Gilbert & Sullivan Calicos and Cheaters

Gilbert & Sullivan Calicos and Cheaters

At least three of the fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas were immortalized in quilts.  The H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor opened in London, on 25 May 1878.  A pillow in a private collection and a crazy quilt found at the MET museum have pieces of a cheater patchwork depicting scenes from that opera.

The quilt also has some patches from G&S’s 1881 production, Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride.  The opera is a satire on the aesthetic movement and was first performed at the Opera Comique in London, on 23 April 1881.  There are some patches of  the “Rapturous maidens“ with their musical instruments as they await Bunthorne.

“I’ve got him on my List” is from the The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu from the ninth comic opera, that opened on 14 March 1885 in London, and was documented in an 1885 Dyer's Notebook of fabric made by Cocheco Print Works.  This cheater crazy patchwork fabric has been found on several quilt backs.

Notes and sources:
The HMS Pinafore fabric pillow was found at http://www.quilthistory.com/study/nov24.htm
The label incorrectly identifies the print as being from the Mikado.

The Dyer’s Notebook can be found at https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18575229/images/
There are several notebooks located at the Cooper Hewitt site if you want to view some.

The full view of the MET crazy quilt can be found at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/19724