Cornucopia with Butterfly
1845
Physical Qualities
Cotton, cotton embroidery threads, ink, 17 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (44.5 x 44.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Olive C. Slater
Object Number
1946.44h
This album square with appliquéd cornucopia is typical of a more naïve style that featured the red and green fabrics popular in other mid-19th-century quilts. These included an almost infinite variety of green-ground prints with black figures and numerous Turkey red cottons-plain or figured fabrics dyed a brilliant scarlet color. Other fabrics were used sparsely in these quilts as accents, including solid yellow or yellow-ground cottons with small dark brown or black printed motifs.
This square is very similar to another of the Slater squares (BMA 1946.44q). Although certain aspects of the design appear nearly identical (red flowers with yellow centers, strawberries, cherries, cornucopia, striped tulip), in this square these elements have been arranged in a more logical manner. Other motifs have been added (pineapple, additional leaves) to fill out the design. Multiple layers of appliqué and reverse appliqué have been substituted for chintz appliqué (in which a fabric printed with a motif was cut out and sewn to a plain ground) in the formation of the butterfly. Instances in which similar squares are used in several album quilts are fairly numerous. This suggests the existence of a common design source and/or the use of patterns, templates, or pre-cut elements by various quilt makers, who altered arrangements and exercised their individual judgment in creating their own quilt blocks.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1946; Ms. Olive C. Slater.
Exhibited at The Hecht Company, Baltimore, MD, Sept. 29-October 15, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. Exhibit catalog does not include any of these album quilt squares. [Receipt from BMA to Hecht Co., A 2100 dated September, 29 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 b, c, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, s, t.]
Exhibited at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD, November 2th – early December, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. [Receipt from BMA to Enoch Pratt Free Library, A 2123 dated November 2, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 c, i, g, h.] However it appears that 1946.44c was rotated to Hutzler’s Dept. Store by November 12, 1971.
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44h, Circulated to: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nov. 18, 1980-Jan. 11, 1981; Metropolitan Museum, New York, June 30, 1981-Aug. 30, 1981; BMA Dec. 13, 1981-Feb. 7, 1982.
*this square may or may not have been shown in this exhibit.
Anita Jones, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts: Appliquéd Artistry," Nov. 5, 2003-May 9, 2004.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 2nd rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
Exhibited at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD, November 2th – early December, 1971 in connection with exhibit at BMA: Dena S. Katzenberg, Baltimore Museum of Art, The Great American Cover-Up: Counterpanes of the 18th and 19th Centuries," Oct. 24, 1971-Dec. 5, 1972. [Receipt from BMA to Enoch Pratt Free Library, A 2123 dated November 2, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 c, i, g, h.] However it appears that 1946.44c was rotated to Hutzler’s Dept. Store by November 12, 1971.
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44h, Circulated to: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nov. 18, 1980-Jan. 11, 1981; Metropolitan Museum, New York, June 30, 1981-Aug. 30, 1981; BMA Dec. 13, 1981-Feb. 7, 1982.
*this square may or may not have been shown in this exhibit.
Anita Jones, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts: Appliquéd Artistry," Nov. 5, 2003-May 9, 2004.
Anita Jones, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 2nd rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
Inscribed: "Sarah Ann Buckmiller/1846" (inked)
