Mikado Quilt

Mikado Crazy Quilt

Victorian Crazy Quilt Celebrates “The Mikado”

by Patricia L. Cummings
photos by James Cummings

Mikado quilt - overall shot - by James Cummings

Mikado Quilt in the collection of Patricia Cummings. photo by James Cummings

Only a person who loves antique quilts with historical connections could truly appreciate our excitement when we discovered a rare piece of history in an antique shop. Jim pointed out the quilt to me and I immediately swept it up, knowing exactly what it represented. What is this wonderful item? Why, it is a Crazy Quilt with imitation patchwork that features Japanese characters, their names, and sayings from the popular operetta called, “The Mikado, or the Town of Titipu.” The first of fourteen literary and musical collaborations between Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), "The Mikado” premiered in London on March 14, 1885 at the Savoy Theatre and initially, enjoyed an almost two year run of 672 consecutive performances.

The Story Line of the Operetta

The main character, Nanki-Poo, has run away to Titipu to avoid marrying Katisha, an older woman to whom he has been betrothed by his father. He introduces himself to Pooh Bah, a corrupt town leader who has taken over many official posts and commensurate salaries because no one is willing to serve under him. Nanki-Poo introduces himself as: “A Wandering Minstrel, I - A thing of shreds and patches - Of ballads, songs and snatches - And dreamy lullaby.”

In reality, Nanki-Poo is the son of “The Mikado,” the Emperor of Japan. Nanki-Poo, disguised as “Second Trombone,” (as is stated), plays each morning in the Purple Tartarian Band at the seaside pier. Yum-Yum falls in love with his musical ability and then with him, and they hope to marry. Ko-ko, her guardian, has already decided to marry the young girl.

Close-up of Mikado figures on Cocheco-made fabric

The New York Public Library has made “The Story of the Mikado” available online. That 1921 version published by Daniel O'Connor in London differs slightly from the original operetta which states that Ko-ko has been sentenced to death for flirting. In the newer version of the story, Ko-ko, “the cheap tailor of Titipu” is to be beheaded because he defaced a statue of Buddha by writing an advertisement on it for his suits.

Ko-ko Appointed Lord High Executioner

In both cases, Ko-ko is given a reprieve, and by a twist of fate, he is appointed Lord High Executioner. Since, he argues, he cannot behead himself, he lives. Furthermore, since the law states that beheading must occur in the order of sentencing, there is no threat that anyone else will be beheaded. There is an inherent problem with this situation. The Mikado requires periodic beheadings lest “Titipu” be reduced to the rank of “village.” A victim must be found.

Pooh Bah serves as The Archbishop of Titipu and is scheduled to marry Ko-ko and Yum-Yum, against her will. Despondent, Nanki-Poo appears with a noose, threatening to hang himself. An agreement is reached that Nanki-Poo will be married to Yum-Yum for one month, and then lose his head. This plan would permit Ko-ko to then marry Yum-Yum. However, a Japanese law is brought to light that a widow of someone who is beheaded must be buried alive.

Ko-ko Victorian Trade Card

"Ko-ko" Victorian Trade Card. Scan by James Cummings

All's Well That Ends Well

At the end of the Second Act, the Mikado himself shows up in the village. To please him, he is falsely told that an execution has just taken place. A false death certificate is produced with the name “Nanki-Poo” written on it, mainly because no one realized that that name belonged to the Emperor's son. The Mikado is ready to “let the punishment fit the crime” for the killing of the heir apparent to the throne. Just then, Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum, who in the meantime have run off and been married, arrive on the scene, fresh from their honeymoon. His father is elated to see him and the operetta ends in a joyous uproar.

Why Was the Operetta Set in Japan?

The Victorians considered any place in the “east” to be exotic and desirable. With this setting, stage wear and décor could include colorful kimono, (the plural of the word “kimono” is “kimono”), and lovely fans. Until 1851, Japan was very much “closed” to trade. Japan participated in The Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia and greatly influenced American's desire for Oriental design, including the joy of asymmetry, an intrinsic element of Victorian crazy quilts.

Speculation exists as to why Gilbert may have chosen a Japanese theme to write the operetta. Reportedly, a Japanese sword unexpectedly fell off a wall in his study and became the impetus for his writing. Curiously, Gilbert never mentioned a falling sword, in subsequent interviews about the work.

Others point to Knightsbridge, a mock, exhibition Japanese village set up in London on January 10, 1885. However, by the time the village was constructed, the first act of “The Mikado” had already been written. Gilbert and his wife did visit the village later, to gather ideas for costumes. However, it is unlikely that Knightsbridge inspired the initial writing of “The Mikado.”

The fictitious name of the town of “Titipu” was probably based on a real Japanese town, “Chichibu.” Due to an inadequate translation system, The London Press in 1884 had mentioned the town of “Titibu.” Gilbert seems to have simply changed “b” to “p.” Ironically, in the twentieth century, “The Mikado” played to delighted audiences in Chichibu.

The English Themselves Were Targeted

For years, the Japanese people could not decide if “The Mikado” was an insult to them or not. In reality, Gilbert's work had an entirely different target. The operetta uses satire to target the pompous, deceptive, and corrupt leaders of English society of the age. As if to prove that the operetta is offered in a lighthearted vein, Gilbert assigns names to the characters that are neither Japanese, nor Chinese, but sound more like “baby talk.

Imitation Patchwork Quilt Recalls Mikado Story

Fabric manufacturers produced “Mikado” fabric in 1886. The New York Times, April 15, 1886, notes a new display at Lord and Taylor's on Grand and Chrystie Street. Revealing that the quilt department was not as “gorgeous” as the muslin department, the report states:

A novelty in the quilt line was the “Mikado” quilts, over whose surface the “three little maids from school” and countless Yum-Yums and Pooh-Bahs disported themselves over appropriate inscriptions.

This quote could very well describe the “Mikado” imitation patchwork fabric that graces the front of the quilt shown here. Squares of “Mikado” fabric are incorporated into crazy patchwork along with other late nineteenth century fabrics. Since the overriding theme of the operetta is “beheading,” it does seems ironic that the “head” of one figure has been enclosed within a seam, making it appear as though a beheading, via sewing, has occurred!

Faux feather stitch embroidery helps to provide the overall effect of crazy patchwork. The printed cheater cloth squares contain quotes from “Mikado” songs: 1) “I've got him on my list,” and on a scroll on the same patch: “The awfully English Dude would never be missed,” 2) “He's going to marry Yum-Yum,” 3) “Three Little Maids from School,” 4) “My object (sic) all sublime,”
5) “Tit Willow,” (Ko-ko sings to a tit-willow bird in the bush), and 6) “Here's a pretty state of things.”

Like most Crazy Quilts, this quilt is not “quilted” but tied. The back of the bed-size quilt is a plain blue color, and tufts of black yarn protrude from it. There are no visible ties or tie marks on the front of the quilt.

Provenance Unknown

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing who made the Crazy Quilt that was collected in northern New England. There are no lines of embroidery or extra embellishments on the quilt. It appears to have been constructed for warmth and has an interior filling that is uneven and suggestive of wool batting. The front edges are turned over to the back and appliquéd down, in place.

Mikado Material Culture: Trade Cards

J&P Coats quickly began printing “Mikado” chromolithograph trade cards for advertising. The company produced a series of seven cards that depict individual characters: Nanki-Poo, Katisha, Yum-Yum, The Mikado, Pooh Bah, Ko-ko and Pish Tush. The cards promoted their Best Six Cord thread, for hand or machine sewing. Images of Japanese people grace another trading card from the Brook's Spool Company.

Illustrations

A collection of line drawings that illustrate the plot of the story were drawn by W.S. Gilbert under his his childhood nickname, “Bab.” He has a particularly compelling drawing of Ko-ko in the “Tit-Willow” scene.

Singular Mikado figures to be stitched as tidies, in outline stitch embroidery, were published by Godey's Lady's Book beginning with their May 1886 issue. Ladies Home Journal followed suit in May 1889 with a premium offer for a design featuring Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing, and Peep-Bo. The image of the three sisters can be seen on a Redwork “Mikado Quilt,” online at the Michigan State University's site, http://www.quiltindex.org/redwork.php or in Red & White by Deborah Harding (Rizzoli International, 2000).

Oriental Fabrics Reach High Production

According to Just New From the Mills: Printed Cottons in America by Diane L. Fagan Affleck, (N. Andover, MA: Museum of American Textile History), both “Chinese- and Japanese-inspired designs reached peak levels,” in the nineteenth century. From 1880 to July 1881, one mill, the Hamilton Print Works, recorded about 150 different Oriental pattern designs in its Sample book and that is an account from only one of the many New England Mills.

From this information, we can see that the time was “right” for the production of “Mikado” fabric at the Cocheco Printworks in Dover, New Hampshire. The American Textile History Museum owns an engraver's sheet and a sample of this fabric, “style 3286, dated January 1886." The company was just responding to a current trend.

Connections to the Arts

Material goods are often interrelated with literature and artistic media. Music, literature, and the visual arts are connected because nothing exists in a vacuum. That is true of “The Mikado” and all of its related products and reproductions of the operetta on stage by various theatrical companies for many decades. A thrill it is to find an antique object that is unusual and then to be able to place it in a greater context so that we can “make sense of it.” I can only compare the experience to deciphering the meaning of another language.

At the time this quilt was made, everyone was familiar with the work of Gilbert and Sullivan that had "jumped" across the ocean. The production, performed in Chicago on July 6, 1885, enjoyed its first authorized performance in New York in August that year. Translated into many other languages over more than one hundred years, “The Mikado” has been performed in Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, the United States, and Japan itself, to the delight of all.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the close-up photos of this special quilt that shows one way in which this musical work affected material culture. Even today, “The Mikado” is alive and well. One of the current revivals is presented on a videotape that features British star, Eric Idle. Whenever we unexpectedly find a special quilt, like “The Mikado” quilt, my heart sings. There is always joy to be found in research, in sharing antiques with you, in print, and in providing points of connection to these “pieces of the past.”

Note: Since writing this article, I have heard of only a few other quilts that have a Mikado theme, or utilize Mikado fabric from the Cocheco Mills, one of them being the back of a quilt held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.