Rick
I've checked my selection of design and description oriented books and here are the only two examples I could find. Both are in books on Shaker furniture, however neither of them are mentioned in the text. Therefore, I cannot say with any certainty that they are actually period pieces. However, though I cannot be sure, I suspect that they are period, given their presence in restored historical sites.
The first rack appears in a picture of a writing desk at Sabbath Day Lake (http://www.shaker.lib.me.us/). The picture is on page 66 of Christian Becksvoort's.
The Shaker Legacy. City: Taunton, 2000,(ISBN 1-56158-357X). You'll have to guess its authenticity and dimensions, but it is a start.
The second rack appears on page 78 of Sharon Duane Koomler's
Shaker Style. Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers, 2000, (ISBN 0-7624-0719-0). Again, no measurements, but this rack is also at a historical village, the Hancock Shaker village (http://hsv.lsw.com/accounts/28/homepage/)
You might check with Christian Becksvoort (http://www.chbecksvoort.com/) about the first rack. I was unable to find a website or contact info for Sharon Duane Koomler.
I'm including a list of the books I searched so you or others need not repeat the process.
Bowman, John.
American Furniture. New York: Exeter Books, 1985.
Fairbanks, Jonathan, and Elizabeth Bates.
American Furniture, 1620 to the Present. New York: R. Marek, 1981.
Burton, E.Milby.
Charleston Furniture, 1700-1825. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997.
Grotz, George.
The Current Antique Furniture Style & Price Guide. Garden City: Doubleday, 1979.
Obbard, John, and Brenda Bechtel.
Early American Furniture. Paducah: Collector Books, 2006.
Sack, Albert et.al.
Fine Points of Furniture: Early American. West Chester: Schiffer Publishing, 2007.
Woodworking, Fine.
In the Shaker Style. Newtown: Taunton Press, 2001.
Pierce, Kerry.
Pleasant Hill Shaker Furniture. Cincinnati: Popular Woodworking Books, 2007.
Lang, Robert.
Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture. Plano: Cambium Press, 2002.
Lang, Robert.
More Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture. City: Independent Publishers Group, 2003.
Burroughs, Paul H..
Southern Antiques. New York: Bonanza Books, 1967.
Magazine, Editors.
Wood Magazine: Arts and Crafts Furniture. New York: Sterling, 2006.
Huey, Glen.
Building Fine Furniture. Cincinnati: Popular Woodworking Books, 2003.
Huey, Glen.
Fine Furniture for a Lifetime. Cincinnati: Popular Woodworking Books, 2002.
Finally, I suspect, though I have no evidence, that quilt racks were rare until the advent of climate control. The theory goes like this:
Before the advent of climate controlled housing quilts were likely to stay on a bed throughout the fall and winter months and then be stored in blanket chests (an apparently far more common form than a rack) during the warmer spring and summer months.
After we learned to heat and cool our homes,quilts were more likely to stay on a bed year round and extra blankets would be kept on racks and used as throws when the air conditioning was a bit to cold or the heat was just shy of comfortable.
Again, this is simply conjecture.
Hope all this helps.
F. James Ray
[email protected]