I haven't told you yet about my antique baby crib quilt I bought in St. Marie-aux-Mines at Mary Koval. It's from around 1870, and probably from Lancaster. What makes this quilt so special is the "poison green" .
Poison green or acid green as it's called, was a very popular color in quilts. It was first seen in quilts in the 1830s. They called it "poison green" because arsenic was sometimes used to produce green dyes.
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| Carel Wilhelm Scheele |
The chemist Scheele (1742-1786) discovered arseninic's used as coloring agent in 1778. The green color became very popular. Varations been extremely popular for dying and printing cloths and wallpapers, and worst of all for food coloring. By the 1860s people became aware of the toxic quantities in Scheele's green, and realise the danger of wallpaper and silk could sicken, if not kill.
Did you know that: In 1879, Queen Victoria even ordered that all the green wallpaper in Buckingham Palace be removed, as it made a visting dignitary, who was staying overnight, feel very sick.
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Tell us (and show us) more about this new addition to your growing collection. :-)
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