Annie Shakman Heller
Crazy Quilt with Striped Ribbon Border
1879-1889
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Annie Shakman Heller
Crazy Quilt with Striped Ribbon Border
1879-1889
Physical Qualities
Silk, silk and metallic (copper alloy wrapped around a cotton core) embroidery threads, oil paint, silk grosgrain ribbon border, wool lining, 77 1/2 x 76 in. (196.9 x 193 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Heller Sachs in Memory of his grandmother, Annie Shakman Heller
Object Number
1976.61
The embroidered sunflower occupying the center of this quilt was a symbol of the late 19th century Aesthetic Movement, which espoused art for art’s sake. British playwright Oscar Wilde, a famous champion of the Aesthetic Movement, visited Baltimore during his trip to North America in 1882. Wilde popularized the sunflower and the calla lily, two flowers that appeared on many crazy quilts and other decorative arts of the period. Quilt maker Annie Shakman immigrated to America from Bohemia in 1863. In 1870, she married fellow immigrant Moritz M. Heller (1844–1914) in Baltimore. By 1880 the family included three young daughters. Sadly, a fourth child, Viola, may have died within a year of her birth in 1886. Possibly in reference to the infant, Shakman included in her quilt two printed cigarette premiums featuring curious young children stealing a peak at a sleeping baby.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, ex. collection Mr. & Mrs. Philip Heller Sachs, ex. collection Annie Shakman Heller
American Crazy Quilts
Penny McMorris, Crazy Quilts, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1984, pp. 82-83, fig. 100 and 100a.
Roderick Kiracofe, The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950, N.Y.: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1993, p. 191, fig. 192.
Virginia Gunn, 'Crazy Quilts and Outline Quilts: Popular Responses to the Decorative Art/Art Needlework Movement, 1876-1893," Uncoverings 1984, Sally Garoutte (ed.), Mill Valley, CA.: American Quilt Study Group, 1985, pp. 131-152.
Amelia Peck, American Quilts & Coverlets in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Dutton Studio Books, 1990, pp. 94-97,
p. 191, . 208.
Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop, America's Quilts and Coverlets, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1972, pp. 296-303.
Carter Houck, The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991, pp. 179-178.
Brick, Cindy. Crazy Quilts: History, Techniques, Embroidery Motifs. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press,2008.
Roderick Kiracofe, The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950, N.Y.: Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1993, p. 191, fig. 192.
Virginia Gunn, 'Crazy Quilts and Outline Quilts: Popular Responses to the Decorative Art/Art Needlework Movement, 1876-1893," Uncoverings 1984, Sally Garoutte (ed.), Mill Valley, CA.: American Quilt Study Group, 1985, pp. 131-152.
Amelia Peck, American Quilts & Coverlets in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Dutton Studio Books, 1990, pp. 94-97,
p. 191, . 208.
Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop, America's Quilts and Coverlets, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1972, pp. 296-303.
Carter Houck, The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991, pp. 179-178.
Brick, Cindy. Crazy Quilts: History, Techniques, Embroidery Motifs. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press,2008.
Maker
Annie Shakman Heller
1850–1932
Born Bohemia between 1851-1854, immigrated 1863, died Baltimore 1933
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