Four-Sided Tulip Design
c. 1850
Physical Qualities
Cotton, 17 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (44.5 x 47 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Olive C. Slater
Object Number
1946.44k
This quatrefoil floral design, consisting of a tulip repeated in each corner between lobes formed of curling leaves, was a popular album quilt motif that appears to have developed from cut paper (scherenschnitte) patterns of Germanic tradition. The elaborate nature of the leaf appliqués on this particular motif as well as its reverse appliquéd tulips raise it to a level above similar, but more simply conceived, squares.
Reverse or inlaid appliqué implies that an outer layer of applied fabric is cut away in order to reveal another layer of material inserted or appliquéd beneath it. The upper layer is shaped and sewn to the lower layer, thus producing the outline of the desired motif or design. In album quilts, reverse appliqué is often found in floral designs or as ornament on vases. In this album block, sections of the red tulips are cut through to reveal a yellow fabric beneath, thus adding greater interest to a simply shaped bloom.
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 Hutzler's Department store, Baltimore, MD, November 12th and November 30th, 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 Hutzler's Department Store, A 2128 dated November 12, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 b, c, j, k, l, n, q, t.]
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44i, 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, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 1st rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
Exhibited at Hutzler's Department store, Baltimore, MD, November 12th and November 30th, 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 Hutzler's Department Store, A 2128 dated November 12, 1971; Album quilt squares 1946.44 b, c, j, k, l, n, q, t.]
Dena S. Katzenberg, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Baltimore Album Quilts," 1980-1982, catalog does not include 1946.44i, 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, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Jean and Allan Berman Textile Gallery, "Baltimore Album Quilts Revisited: A Matter of Style," 1st rotation, July 3rd, 2008-Jan. 27th, 2009, no catalog.
