Floral Motifs on Early Chintz
Nigella sp. - Love In A Mist
Nigella sp. (Nigella) (then called Melanthium Hispanicum majus) from Basillius Bessler,  Hortus Eystettensis, vol. 2: Secundus ordo collectarum plantarum aestivalium, plate 178, fig. I, 1620
Nigella sp. (Nigella) growing in modern garden. By I, Wildfeuer [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Nigella sp. (Nigella) on the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Quilt center, England, 1810-30, Cotton, 1969.3247, Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum
Common Names: Nigella, Love in a Mist, Devil in a Bush, Fennel Flower 
 
Description: Nigella sp. (Nigella) is a member of the Ranunculus Family (Ranunculaceae). The Hortus Kewensis, ed. 2, vol. 3 records five species of Nigella sp. from Europe, Candia (?), Egypt, and Syria with the earliest cultivation date in Britain of 1548. 

 
Quilts with this Nigella sp. (Nigella) motif: 
 
  • The Quilters' Guild Collection, The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles, the Fife Coverlet, 1830-1839 
  • Private Collection of Parks Hutchinson Dalton, Central Diamond Medallion Made by Ann Adeline Orr Parks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, North Carolina Quilts, p. 50, c. 1830 
  • Private Collection of Charles Orr Dalton, Central Diamond Medallion Made by Ann Adeline Orr Parks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, North Carolina Quilts, p. 51, c. 1830 
  • Collection of the Carson House, Marion, NC, Floral Wreath Medallion made by Kadella, a slave owned by Colonel John Carson, North Carolina Quilts, p. 61, c. 1820-1840 
  • The Charleston Museum, Chintz Applique Quilt, Social Fabric: South Carolina's Traditional Quilts, p.14, Object Number HT 740, c. 1840 
  • The Charleston Museum, Chintz Applique Quilt Made by Mrs. Daniel Crawford, Object Number HT 742, c. 1840 
  • The Charleston Museum, Chintz Applique Quilt, Social Fabric: South Carolina's Traditional Quilts, p.14, Object Number HT 584, c. 1830 
  • Ardis and Robert James Collection, International Quilt Study Center, Printed Center Medallion Quilt, Object Number 2007.040.0001, 1830-1850 
 
Chintz with this Nigella sp. (Nigella) motif: 
 
  • The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Quilt center, England, 1810-30, Cotton, 1969.3247, Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum
  • Panel 2 in Appendix I of Merikay Waldvogel, "Printed Panels for Chintz Quilts: Their Origin and Use," Uncoverings 34 (2013): 124
Also check out the December 17, 2018 Chintz Panels in Quilts blog (https://chintzpanelquilt.blogspot.com/2018/12/panel-2-round-bouquet-in-feather-scroll.html)  by Merikay Waldvogel and Barbara Brackman for several pictures, citations,  and more information about the printed panel on which this motif occurs.


                                                          More Nigella sp. (Nigella) Motifs
                                                    (No pictures available at this time)


Pattern for a printed cotton with this Nigella sp. (Nigella) motif: 
  • "Fucia & Devil in the Bush" Pattern for a Printed Cotton, Peter Floud, "Richard Ovey and the rise of the London 'Furniture-Printers'," Connoisseur, November 1957, 92-96. Shown in Figure 1, probably sent to Bannister Hall for printing between 1799 and 1808


©  Updated 8/2/2020     Author: Terry Terrell