A LADY who carefully looked after a rare 18th century quilt for more than four decades has donated it to The Bowes Museum.

Doreen Nicholls was considering selling the fine wedding quilt at auction when she read about the Barnard Castle museum’s North Country Quilts exhibition in an antiques magazine.

Instead, she decided to contact the museum which was happy to give it a new home in a prime exhibition space.

A museum spokesperson said: “Mrs Nicholls had been planning on selling it at auction where it could have fetched between £3,000 and £5,000 but she decided to very generously donate it to the museum instead.”

Mrs Nicholls bought the quilt from a gentleman who worked on an estate in the North of England and was a customer of her family’s business, which dealt in high class china and glass.

She said: “He was the last of his family and came from the North of England.

"He was desperate to find a suitable person to care for his family’s marriage quilt. He was told I liked old things and I suppose that is why he approached me to take care of it.

"He was prepared to give me the quilt but I insisted I pay him an amount for the pleasure of viewing and owning it. We came to an arrangement and it became mine.

"What did I think of it? Superb and rare.”

Mrs Nicholls treasured the quilt for 45 years, keeping it safe in a large drawer and only brought it out for special occasions or viewings.

She said: “Many years passed and I needed, as my predecessor, to find a new home for the quilt.

“What better place than The Bowes, where they had a large collection of old quilts? It has been accepted and I am well satisfied.”

She said the staff’s enthusiasm and communication reassured her that the quilt was going to a good home.

Earlier this week, curator Joanna Hashagen welcomed the 92-year-old, along with her carer and cousin, to the museum as a special guest.

They enjoyed lunch in the museum cafe and saw the quilt hanging on display in a glass cube in the Fashion and Textile Gallery.

North Country Quilts: In Celebration of New Acquisitions, which celebrates the quilting traditions of northern England by showcasing fine historical and contemporary quilts, runs at The Bowes Museum until January 9, 2022.

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