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
 

Oscar Was Destined to be Immortalized in Needlework Before Even Setting Foot in North America

Oscar Was Destined to be Immortalized in Needlework Before Even Setting Foot in North America

Outline Embroidery Images of Oscar and his Fellow Aesthetes were published before he even set foot in America.  So it shouldn’t come as a surprise his image is showing up on quilts.  

The following description very aptly describes the Oscar image on my CQ:  “…the black-velvet robed lecturer in knee breeches and buckled shoes, with lace frills at his wrist, and a cascade of lace at his throat…”  This is from A Lecture by Oscar Wilde by Mary Wager-Fisher published in The Christian Union, Vol 25, No 22, Page 504; June 1, 1882. 

British satirical publications “Punch, Or the London Charivari.” and “Judy, Or the London Serio-comic Journal.” published caricature illustrations of the poet Oscar Wilde in 1881, as did Puck here in America.  

The Art Amateur seized on the burgeoning popularity of Mr. Wilde and his fellow aesthetes with the ladies and offered a collection of designs suitable for outline embroidery or etching on linen in their October 1881 issue. 

The Art Amateur, Vol 5, October 1881, Pg 110.  Supplemental Designs.  Plate CXXII. Is a collection of designs – “Aesthetes” suitable for outline embroidery or etching on linen. 

Not only were the figures published in The Art Amateur – articles appeared as book reviews in several publications advertising the fact they were available and mentioning Oscar Wilde in particular.  

The Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 9, 1881, Page 7 had a review for the October issue of the Art Amateur mentioning embroidery designs.  

The Louisiana Journal of Education, Vol 3, No 7, November 1881, Page 231 had the following ad:  The Art Amateur for October contains a great variety of designs for china painting, art needlework and general decoration, including some clever silhouette menu cards, and some clever serio-comic figures of Oscar Wilde and his fellow "aesthetes" for outline embroidery or "etching" on linen. 

The New Englander, 1881, No 163, November 1881, Page 835 had a similar ad:  The Art Amateur for October contains a great variety of designs for china painting, art needlework and general decoration, including silhouette menu cards, and some capital serio-comic figures of Oscar Wilde and his fellow "aesthetes" for outline embroidery or "etching" on linen. 

The most probable source may have been “Judy, Or the London Serio-comic Journal” since the ads mentioned serio-comic figures – and that is part of Judy’s name.  I was able to review volumes 27 and 29-30 on the HathiTrust.org web site, but they did not have number 28.  It is possible some figures of the Aesthetes were in that issue and were the inspiration for the outline designs in The Art Amateur – as it was a  very common practice to convert popular designs into etching patterns for the ladies to use in their fancy work.  Or maybe it was like the contemporary English caricature “Our Oscar” as he was when we loaned him to America from The Amenities of Book-collecting and Kindred Affections by A, Edward Newton, 1918, page 326.  

Oscar’s caricature is illustrated several times in both Punch and Judy. 

Puck, another satirical magazine – along the same lines, had a comic with some aesthetes in their August 10, 1881 issue, by alas Oscar was not among them. 

Until plate CXXII is found, it will be a guess.  It is very hard to find intact supplements from The Art Amateur, as they were generally not included when they bound the issues together into volume format.   If I ever find it – I will post.  

Update:  I have found Issue 28 of Judy in the UK, and hope to review it as soon as I get the book.