Baltimore album quilt,
circa 1847, makers unknown. This example from the Lovely Lane
Museum celebrates the work of the Seaman's Bethel Mission,
pictured in appliqued red fabric on the quilt.
Collaborative Efforts of a Skilled
Sisterhood:
By Karla Klein Albertson
BALTIMORE, MD. - Among the antique textiles most highly prized by
collectors are the magnificent album quilts made in the Baltimore
area during the mid-Nineteenth Century. "The Baltimore Album
Quilt Tradition," on view at the Maryland Historical Society
through September 9, brings together over 40 examples of these
complex compositions and documents them for posterity in a
companion catalogue. The reference's side-by-side text in English
and Japanese reflects the fact that for the past year the
exhibition has been touring Japan, where enthusiasm for the
American quilting tradition continues unabated.
Exhibition curator Nancy E. Davis, the Deputy Director of the MHS
museum, has selected 38 quilts from the society's rich permanent
collection and four from the nearby Lovely Lane United Methodist
Church & Museum, which illustrate the development of the
album quilt tradition before, during, and after its 1845-1855
heyday. The exhibits begin with early Nineteenth Century broderie
perse examples and include several modern interpretations of the
genre.
In the introductory essay for the catalogue, Davis explains the
evolution of this distinct quilt type: "Earlier quilters had
chosen a variety of forms: center medallions, mathematical stars,
and trailing, arborescent vines, which were widely used and
composed principally of floral or geometric motifs. In contrast
album quilts contained specific pictorial images of urban,
Baltimore life - ships, churches, monuments, and people -
presented in a more rigid, segmented form...
"This formulaic discipline of album quilts in which structure,
repetition, and order prevailed, may have been comfortable to
women whose lives were jostled by rapid social change. The
pictorial images possibly served as stabilizers, enabling these
women to incorporate the familiar and the past into a swiftly
changing world."
Mathematical star quilt, circa 1820-40, made by Howard and
Dorothy Isaac, Howard County, Md. According to family
tradition, both Isaacs participated in the making of this
quilt, with Howard cutting and Dorothy piecing.
"For the most part, these quilts are products of a collective
effort," explains Davis. "Very often the quilters were members of
the same church or school and sometimes they were relatives. Or
they could be friends making a quilt for someone in the group who
was getting married, thus the name Friendship Albums." Individual
blocks are often signed with makers' names, although one woman
may have served as a "master designer" of the overall
composition.
Documentation on individual examples opens a window on women's
history during the period. For example, one album quilt dated
1852 may have been made by friends and relatives of Laura Horton
upon her marriage, since many of the inscriptions refer to
members of her family. As with most quilts of this type, floral
motifs are a unifying theme between the border and 25 individual
squares.
In another composition of 16 squares within a vine border,
attributed to Mrs Josiah Goodman, trees and flowers are accented
by novel figural additions: an American eagle, horses, dogs,
Mexican War hero Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker of Maryland, and
an elephant. The appliqued fabrics, which include wool tweeds,
are strongly outlined in embroidery overcasting.
For serious students of quilt history, the exhibition offers a
not-to-be-missed opportunity to view a least a dozen early
textiles - predecessors of the true album style - which
incorporate a dazzling variety of printed English fabric motifs,
carefully cut out and appliqued onto a quilted background. In a
section on "Selecting Fabrics," Davis notes, "Most fine quilts of
this early period contained imported fabrics, for the United
States produced little cloth until the 1820s. A decade later the
quality of American cloth still did not equal that of English or
French fabrics. Few American companies produced the fine glazed
cotton chintzes printed with polychrome designs that quilters
desired."
As Baltimore quilting developed, floral baskets and sprays cut
whole from fabrics were replaced by appliqued floral patterns
created by the needleworker herself from smaller bits of cloth, a
characteristic technique of the album quilt style.
The uniformly high level of skill exhibited by these appliqued
and embroidered quilts is dazzling to modern eyes, although Davis
notes, "You can see as you go through the exhibition that there
are varieties of abilities - not everybody is equally as capable
- but for the most part these were pretty accomplished women."
The popularity and uniformity of the style during the 1845-1855
decade suggest that women had opportunities to compare their work
on home or church visits and during fair-time displays. The
curator points out, "In Baltimore at his time, there were
agricultural fairs at which quilts were exhibited and seen by
many visitors as part of needlework competitions."
Nancy Davis concludes, "My hope is that this exhibition will help
our visitors see women in a more holistic way. Women at the time
were capable, knowledgeable, and aware of the world and went on
to incorporate details of their lives in these quilts. The makers
also valued gentility and the sensibility of giving gifts; this
was their way of uplifting dear friends and relatives with the
art they had created."
"Women did a lot of mundane sewing from baby clothes to shrouds,
but these were tours-de-force designed to be displayed as a best
bed covering," she emphasizes. "Therefore, it's surprising that
examples in the exhibition are very well cared for and in
excellent condition; these quilts were revered."
The Maryland Historical Society will continue its yearlong
series, "Preserving Your Family Treasures," with special programs
related to the current exhibition "Textile Conservation" on
August 2 and "Quilt Identification and Preservation" on September
6. The Society's series of 12 "Summer Quilt Sundays" featuring
activities and demonstrations every week from 1 to 4 pm will
continue through September 9.
Needleworkers will also enjoy a trio of two-day "Master Quilt
Classes" beginning on July 27 and 28 with "Theorem Applique:
Epergne of Fruit," with later sessions August 24 and 25 and
September 7 and 8. Register by calling 410-685-3750, extension
321, or online at www.mdhs.org.
The Baltimore Album Quilt Tradition by Nancy E. Davis is
available from The Press. The illustrated catalogue with text in
English and Japanese explores the development of this art form
and focuses on the history of individual examples. Purchase the
volume or view an Online Exhibition of the quilts with text on
the MHS Web site at www.mdhs.org.
Detail from the Lafayette quilt, 1829, by Susannah Buckingham.
This center medallion replicates a badge with an image of
Lafayette that was worn by Susannah's husband for an
unspecified commemorative celebration.
A loan of four historic quilts to "The Baltimore Album Quilt
Tradition" acquaints readers with a small part of the interesting
collections and archival material belonging to a museum located
in the Lovely Lane United Methodist Church in Baltimore, an
architecturally significant structure designed by Stanford White
in 1884. Not named for its current address on St Paul Street, the
church and museum take their title from the old Lovely Lane
Meeting House, site of the Christmas conference in 1784 which
established a separate Methodist Church in America.
The museum houses books, portraits, textiles, furniture, and
decorative arts associated with important members of the early
church, such as Bishop Francis Asbury, as well as genealogical
archives on Methodist families which are accessible to
researchers.
The four loans to the Maryland Historical Society Exhibition
include an 1847 example celebrating the work of the Seaman's
Bethel Mission, pictured in appliqued red fabric on the quilt,
where Methodist Reverend Hezekiah Best served as chaplain from
1844-1847. A second Lovely Lane quilt features squares with an
accurate depiction of the Greene Street Methodist Church and
several inscribed Bibles sewn in 1848 by the ladies of the
church.
Lovely Lane United Methodist Church and Museum is at 2200 St
Paul Street. For information, 410-889-4458. The Maryland
Historical Society is at 201 West Monument Street. Hours are
Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 5 pm; Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm;
and Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. For information, 410-685-3750.
